All For One, One For All, and All For Love
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: Takes place shortly after the final battle was won, and is a sequel to my story, Penance Is a Sacrifice. After returning home from their honeymoon, Emma and Killian are thrown right away into helping a few friends from the Land of Untold Stories when they become desperate to return home. Unfortunately, danger arises when a villain appears so he can use this to his own advantage.
1. Chapter 1

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter One

Far away from their home in Storybrooke, Maine, at the GrandHotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, Emma and Killian Jones slow danced together within each other's arms inside the hotel's elegant dining hall amidst a number of other guests to the romantic music being played by a small orchestra. The newlyweds were on the last night of their month long honeymoon, after they traveled across the ocean aboard the Jolly Roger to new countries so they could begin to see the world for their first time together like they wanted, visiting a few of the islands which made up the Bahamas and Hawaii, as well as countries across the Atlantic Ocean that included Argentina, Egypt, Spain, England, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Greece, France, and Prague in the Czech Republic where they ended up for the last four nights before it was finally time for them to travel home where their family and friends eagerly awaited for their return.

Emma wore an extravagant purple ball gown that had been given to her from her parents as one of her wedding gifts, and her hair mostly hung loose with flowers draped throughout her golden strands. Killian wore a fine tuxedo and black button up shirt similar to what he wore on their wedding day, his hair loose and styled messily instead of slicked back and neat. And together, the Princess and her pirate waltzed to the music, impressing the people surrounding them who watched them dance so elegantly without knowing who they were or where they were from.

They weren't unaware of the stares of the people watching. However, they didn't really care that they had strangely become the center of the guests' attentions. The Savior only looked deep into her husband's eyes as she smiled at him, while he too looked down into her own. At last, Emma finally just laid her head against his chest so that he could hold her closer to him as they continued to dance, while neither spoke. Emma allowed her mind to drift back to the ball where they danced together in Camelot until tragedy struck, as well as back to one of her very favorite moments she shared with Killian like she often allowed her mind to drift back to, while they danced at the first ball they attended together at King Midas' castle within the Enchanted Forest, with hope of bringing her parents back together again upon unintentionally messing up the past timeline.

_Upon their arrival at the ball where Emma knew both of her parents would soon be, she began to go on and on to Hook about how her parents liked to reminisce about their pasts as she and Killian began to walk through the crowds of guests, while she quietly muttered, "Mary Margaret and David are always going on about this ball and that ball. What's the big deal about these things?"_

_When they made their way through to where the people were dancing to the music playing around them, Emma suddenly froze as she began to watch the dancers in amazement and fear, then Killian leaned in closer to her with a smile on his face and whispered, "You were saying?"_

_ "__What am I supposed to do?" she then asked him while she stared at how perfect their movements were and how graceful the women looked as they danced with their men._

_ "__Blend in," he answered confidently, smiling again while he took her by the hand and then guided her over to the dance floor._

_ Emma__ allowed herself to be led by Killian while she looked at him in surprise and responded, "Wait… Are you saying you know how to do whatever this is?"_

_Killian laid her hand down on top of his right shoulder, then reached down to place her other hand upon his wooden one and wrapped his arm around her to lay his good hand over the small of her back so he could hold her, before he finally looked into her eyes as they began to dance, all while he replied, "It's called a waltz. There's only one rule… Pick a partner who knows what he's doing."_

_The Savior and the pirate Captain continued dancing without words while they looked into each other's eyes, for awhile allowing themselves to forget the reason why they were there that night and that they were in any danger. Neither Prince Charming, nor Snow White had made an appearance and Emma was actually having fun being at a ball with Captain Hook._

_ "Watch the mocking," she finally stated as she noticed him smiling smugly at her while they were side by side. "I'm actually getting the hang of this."_

_ "I'm not mocking you, Swan," he answered her, as he knelt down on one knee to allow Emma to dance around him like the dance called for them to do. "I'm just thinking about what you said in Storybrooke… about not being a princess."_

_ Emma smiled at him at in disbelief and responded, "Really? You get my first dance, at my first royal ball, and all you can say is 'I told you so?"_

_Killian stood again and bowed to her before pulling her close to him like before while he replied in sincerity, "I believe what I'm trying to say, Your Highness… is that you appear to be a natural."_

"I look forward to seeing our family again, Killian," Emma at last whispered to her husband once she brought her mind back to the present and opened her eyes, though she didn't lift her head away from his chest even to look up at him again while she spoke. "And yet… I almost wish we could continue to see the world together forever. These last few weeks have been…"

"Magical," he finished for her while he spoke softly as well. "I know exactly how you feel, love. I couldn't be happier. However, life goes on. No doubt your son and your parents are missing you terribly."

She smiled at the thought of seeing those she loved again, then she answered, "I know they must be missing you too. Especially Henry. He looks up to you and admires you. Plus, he's really excited for you to begin his swordfighting lessons. You've already taught him some things, but Henry wants to become as good as a real knight. As good as you. He's growing up so fast. Too fast."

The Captain understood and responded, "Aye. That's what children do. Except for in Neverland. Then of course they would stay young forever."

"Of course there's that," Emma replied to him, finally lifting her head to look at him again, then laughed. "What do you say, we head back to our room for one final night of passion and honeymoon bliss before we begin our journey home again to the real world tomorrow morning?"

"As you wish, milady," Killian happily answered his wife, smiling while he bowed before her and lovingly kissed her hand once they pulled apart. "Allow me to go pay our server for our fine supper, then we can go."

She smiled as he stepped around her to walk away, until he looked back at her when Emma spoke playfully saying, "Remember… be sure to use your card to pay and not any of your doubloons."

The pirate just smiled back at her as she laughed softly, and then he walked away to return to their earlier table so he could pay their waiter for dinner. In the meantime, Emma walked out into the foyer outside of the dining room so she could wait for her husband where there weren't so many people surrounding her any longer.

However, the last person she expected she would ever run into again in her lifetime suddenly called out to her stating, "Emma? Is that really you?"

"Ryan?" she uttered in disbelief once she turned around when she surprisingly came face to face with one of her former bail jumpers, whom she had caught the night Henry first arrived at her apartment in Boston just after she made a birthday wish upon blowing out the candle in her cupcake. "Ryan Marlow…"

"Well… well… well… If it isn't the orphan without a family," he cruelly responded and smiled at her. "And bail bondsman. Or… bail bondsperson, right? Of all the people I could have run into halfway around the world. Unless of course… you're here to try to entrap me again in another of your set ups?"

Emma was about to speak again, until Ryan swiftly turned to another woman who then stepped up beside him, as he encouraged her to return to their own room, then assured her he would be up in a few minutes. They then watched her once she walked away from him after she kissed him, making it clear to Emma that this woman was romantically involved with him. She suspected as much, since they were there at one of the most romantic destinations in Europe, but now she knew so with utmost certainty.

Once she was gone, Emma turned back to him again and replied reservedly, "Believe me… I'm as surprised to see you again as you are to see me. You haven't changed much. I see that you're no longer in prison. And that you're once again with someone who isn't your wife. I do hope she finally left you?"

Ryan turned around as well and looked at her as he answered, "She did. Never bothered to visit me in prison. She took my kids away from me and won't even let me see them. But enough about me. Seeing you all dressed up and beautiful like that… I take it you're here with someone?"

"That's right, mate," Hook then responded once he returned and stepped forward to stand beside his wife while he wrapped his right arm around her, inadvertently leaving his fake hand visible for the man before them to see, as Ryan couldn't help but stare down at it until his attention was brought back to Emma's face when she spoke again.

"Killian… this is Ryan Marlow," she nervously said when she looked over at the man she loved to let him know what was going on. "He was one of the criminals I had to chase down back when I was still a bail bondsperson. I finally caught him by going on a date with him. It didn't go well for him."

The ex convict looked over at the one handed man with her again and questioned, "Now that you know about me… who are you?"

Emma continued, "Killian Jones. My husband. I'm not alone anymore, Ryan. I found my family. And it's only grown over the years. So your taunt about me being all alone… doesn't bother me anymore. I hope you're staying clean. After how much you embezzled, you're lucky you're not still in prison. And that I'm no longer chasing after you so I can put you back in prison where you belong. I hope I never have to see you again. Goodbye."

"The feeling's mutual," he muttered once Emma and Killian finally walked away from him, then he turned himself so he could return to his room where his girlfriend was still waiting for him.

"Are you alright?" Killian asked his wife when he spoke again at last once they were free and clear of the man he could see had clearly gotten under her skin. "And don't tell me you're fine, because I can tell something he said upset you."

The Savior put her arm through his and took his hand, then she replied quietly, "It's nothing. Really… I am fine. I promise. Back when I first met Ryan years ago… when I apprehended him to send him off to prison for embezzlement, he asked me what I knew about family because I made the mistake of telling him I was an orphan. Back then… I was alone and I allowed him to see my vulnerability for one brief moment, which you know I don't like to let anyone do. And then I rammed his head against the steering wheel of his car to knock him out cold. Tonight… he reminded me of back then. That's all. I wanted to punch his face, or ram his head against the wall all over again. I might have had you not returned when you did."

The man she loved smiled at her when she looked over at him and answered, "I'm almost sorry I stopped you. I would have liked to see that."

"But in all seriousness, Emma… you never would have done so, because you're more than strong enough to resist," he continued on more somberly, when he stopped walking a moment so he could turned around and look into his wife's eyes. "Tonight, you didn't allow him to make you feel vulnerable. Instead, you stood up to him and showed him the amazing woman I've seen in you from the moment I met you."

"You always know exactly what to say to make me feel better," Emma lovingly responded to him. "And I love you all the more for it. What do you say we continue to make our way back up to our room?"

Killian smiled and then leaned in to whisper into her ear, "This devilishly handsome pirate has been ready since you first suggested we do so."

The Savior leaned in to kiss the man she loved and married barely a month ago once she smiled at him as well, then she looked up into his eyes when she pulled back a little and seductively replied to him, "Good. Come on then… this Princess is eagerly awaiting for her pirate to show her so."


	2. Chapter 2

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Two

Four days later, aboard the Jolly Roger…

The morning after they danced together on the final evening of their honeymoon, Killian and Emma set sail as they made their way back home to Storybrooke. For any normal ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean, a voyage from Europe to Maine would take anywhere from six to seven days, if not longer. However, the Jolly Roger was the fastest ship on the high seas within any realm thanks to the enchanted wood she was built from. Therefore, after only four days of travel, they were nearly home. Much to both sheriffs' dismays, their honeymoon was over.

Down below deck, Emma slowly finished getting herself dressed after she and Killian awoke, while her new husband left their quarters once he got himself dressed as well so that he could go up on deck to do his daily duties for his ship and then prepared for their arrival in Storybrooke's harbor. Once she was ready for the day ahead, Emma then turned her head to look around the room as she continued to study Killian's possessions he had left aboard the Jolly Roger after he moved in with her a few months earlier.

The Savior had seen most of the things within her husband's ship and she even studied a number of his maps with him that he kept lying out on the table in the center of his quarters after he had begun teaching her how to navigate the seas and the stars in the skies. She looked down at the charted lands within other realms to which he's sailed to in his past, then her eyes eventually fell on the shelves built into the ship's walls in front of her, where Killian kept his extra swords and weapons. And finally, she turned again and noticed that the safe he kept within the shelves also built into the walls across from the bed was left open slightly.

Emma didn't know if Killian intended to leave it open or not, but she walked over to it so she could close it the rest of the way for him. However, the moment her hand touched the safe's door handle, her curiosity got the better of her and instead of closing the door, she opened it further and began to look through the items she discovered inside of it. There wasn't much, as the safe was fairly small. But there were a few items inside that intrigued her a little, including a single silver coin that appeared to be quite old. A coin which she suspected had a story behind it to explain why it must hold more value to him than the treasures, gold coins, and other doubloons which he used to pay with for anything he ever bought, including right here in Storybrooke.

"Is everything okay, love?" Killian then asked as he spoke from the doorway upon coming back down to his quarters to check on her when she didn't come up on deck as soon as he expected her to do, suddenly startling her upon doing so, which he immediately saw he had done and quickly apologized while he began walking towards her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I only wanted to make sure…"

"Did you find something there?" he continued instead, until he froze on his words upon seeing the silver coin in her hands once he reached her, then turned his head to look towards the open safe, as the softness in his eyes changed from their gentleness to nothing but sadness. "That coin…"

Worried that she had hurt him simply by touching something that clearly had a sad meaning behind it, Emma carefully placed the coin into his hand while she replied apprehensively, "I'm sorry. Really. I shouldn't have been snooping. I just saw that your safe was open and… well, my curiosity got the better of me. I didn't mean to pry."

Killian shook his head and finally looked up at her as he answered, "It's really alright. I promise. I opened my safe so I could pull out an old key for one of the chests I have stored on deck near the wheel. I didn't feel the need to close it before I went back above to collect another map stored inside the chest. I've nothing to hide from you."

"Perhaps you should have locked it," she regretfully replied to him again with a sheepish laugh, then at last, the woman Killian loved reached out to lay her hands over his once he looked back down at the coin once again. "This coin means something to you. Doesn't it? It isn't the coin you stole from the giants' castle back on our first adventure together, is it? No… that was a gold coin. And this one clearly holds some sad meaning behind it. Tell me what it is? Please…"

"Aye… Swan," her husband sadly answered her, then turned her around towards the bed and motioned for her to sit down on it beside him once he did so himself, as she complied while his wife kept her hands over his and his arm. "Like these rings I wear… this silver coin serves as a reminder. Only this reminder comes from long before my pirating days. Back when I was still nothing more than a worthless sla… a worthless slave. Aboard Captain Silver's ship. Those were the worst years of my life. Outside of being the bloody Dark One and trapped in the Underworld without hope… Forgive me for going there. I didn't mean to… This is about the coin. And it has to do with a sacrifice Liam once made for me, and surviving the vicious tempest days later that brought Liam and me into a new life within the Royal Navy. After which I vowed to be the brother Liam deserved me to be."

Over two hundred years ago, within Longbourn's harbor…

_Liam finally returned from the Naval sign up the next morning with two pieces of paper in his hands and when he walked down the docks alongside the ship, then paused upon finding the vile man he wanted to talk to standing before him, Liam zealously called out, "Captain Silver! Two papers of service. I'm pleased to tell you the Brothers Jones will be leaving your employ."_

_Silver turned to face the much younger man while he smugly stated, "Well, one of you, at least."_

_"What?" the older Jones questioned, not exactly understanding the Captain's meaning until he realized that something must be wrong with his brother. "What's happened? What did you do to Killian?"_

_"All I did was offer him a drink," Silver responded, as he looked down to where Killian was sprawled and passed out drunk with an empty bottle of rum in his hands in his small corner of the deck. "The rest he managed all by himself. He's not much of a gambler."_

_Liam ran onboard to his brother, then leaned down before him while he agitatedly searched Killian's garments for his money pouch and shook him awake as he cried out to him in worry, "Killian! Where's his silver? What have you done with your money?"_

_When he found the pouch and saw that it was empty as he feared he would, the older brother curtly shoved it back into his hand and with frustration he said, "You gambled."_

_"I'm sorry, brother," Killian replied groggily, as he struggled to come out the haze from his drunken stupor the night before, shaking the coin purse for himself to find it was indeed empty._

_"You bastard!" Liam shouted at Silver in anger when his Master callously began to count Killian's coins that now belonged to him in order to taunt both of his slaves, especially the younger one who looked towards the Captain with shame only for himself._

_Silver kept his eyes on Liam while he cruelly answered, "I'm not responsible for his weakness. And you still have your money. If you want my advice, cut anchor. Leave the dead weight behind."_

_Liam turned back to his brother as Killian sighed from behind him and then spoke again saying wearily, "Just do it. Liam, go. I can never be the brother you deserve."_

_"We're to set sail, Jones," the Captain continued. "It's either the Navy, or more grain runs with your favorite Captain."_

_"Then grain runs it shall be," he responded miserably after he took a few moments to look at the papers in his hands, then walked over to the side of the ship._

_Killian knew what Liam was about to do as he desperately tried to stop him by calling out, "No."_

_Liam ignored him as he tore the parchments in half, then threw the pieces into the water and without turning back around, the older Jones stated once more steadfastly, "Come hell or high water, I cannot leave my brother."_

Back in the present…

"I allowed my pain and misery… my anger to turn me into a drunken fool and a coward ever since our father abandoned us and sold Liam and me into a life of slavery," Killian started again, after he paused a few moments to collect his thoughts once he finished sharing with Emma the story of how he had drunkenly gambled away the last of his silver that would have allowed him and Liam to change their lives that much sooner. "Were it not for me, Liam never would have had to make that deal Hades tricked my brother into, and we would have been free men on our own terms. By our own merits. Liam gave all that up to protect me."

"This coin… was the very first coin I earned from Silver after this day," he then added once he raised his head again to look up into his wife's loving eyes, as she looked into his. "It was also the last coin I ever earned from him before he and the rest of the crew died in that storm, no thanks to that damn deal. After Liam and I survived the raging tempest, I vowed to him that night that I wouldn't ever squander the second chance he had given me, and that I would be the brother he deserved. Despite whatever his mistakes might have been. I failed him back then."

Killian placed the coin into Emma's hand, reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out his flask, then he stared at it while he spoke again sadly saying, "For the next few years while I worked my way up to becoming a Leftenant within the Royal Navy, I swore off drinking so that I would never be able to use rum as an excuse for whatever mistakes made of my own doing. And believe me… giving it up was extremely difficult. Like it is for any drunkard. I lashed out even at Liam who worked with me to try to keep me from giving into any temptations… I even struck him a time or two. And there was a time that I became so ill and very nearly died because of the withdrawals from the drink. And I wanted to die. I hated myself back then. Even more so than I had once I became Captain Hook."

Emma tenderly laid her head down on his shoulder and wrapped her arm around her husband to hold him while she also held onto the back of his hand so she could offer him comfort upon seeing the pain and shame within his eyes, then he set down the flask on the other side of him on the bed, and took the silver coin back from her as he continued, "I might not have been a slave any longer, but I still felt like I was most days. I believed I was less than I was trying to be. My anger and hatred stayed with me always. I've always given into it, for as long as I can remember. My whole life. That was partly why it was so easy for me to fall into the darkness when I became the Dark One, Emma. You see… I also deeply hated my father for what he did to Liam and me. I didn't understand how he could give us up… How he could trade us for a rowboat and sell us into servitude. But eventually, my anger subsided enough once I became sober and I was finally able to keep it suppressed, deep down inside. At last… I started rising up through the ranks until I eventually became a Leftenant. And I kept this coin on me at all times to serve as a reminder that I could not fall back into the man I was before I became sober. And thankfully, I stayed sober for the next few years. Until I lost my brother when he died from the dreamshade that killed him. Any control I had over suppressing my anger and hatred died in that moment with him. I buried him at sea, vowed that my men and I would never again return to that bloody island, which I broke more than once, swore revenge against our King and our Kingdom for sending us to Neverland for the dreamshade in the first place and became a pirate, tossed this coin into my safe to lock it away so I could forget about it, and finally took to drinking again. All so I could be as ruthless as I needed to be so I could become the villain I soon became. I bet you wish you hadn't asked me about this damn coin… aren't you?"

"I am," the woman who loved him so deeply replied to him sincerely as she looked again into his eyes, then raised her hand she had been holding his with all this time to his face, and lovingly wiped away the tears in his eyes that had slowly begun to fall down his cheeks while he spoke the truth to her. "Like you once said to me, Killian… more than once actually, I want to know you. The real you, during every part of your life, including all that pains you. You have a much longer lifetime of memories and stories to share with me. I know it's painful, but I want to help you. You can only move on from all that pain you've kept inside all these years, if you talk about it. And who better than to do so with, than the woman who will love you no matter what evils you may have done in your past. Unless of course, you prefer to talk to Archie. Which of course would be really good as well, but…"

"If I can share with you everything there is to know about myself, I promise you I will do so, Emma," Killian gently answered her with all honesty, then he leaned in to kiss her before he pulled back again so he could talk once more. "However long it takes to do so. But I'm afraid for now, we'll have to save more story time for later tonight once we are free to return to our home just before bed. We'll be in Storybrooke in no time. Which is why we should get back up on deck so I can bring our ship into the harbor. And you know that the moment we find your parents, your boy, and all of our friends and they see we've returned… we won't have much time to ourselves until it's finally time to return home to turn in for the night."

Emma breathed in and let it out with a frustrated sigh, then she grumbled, "Does our honeymoon really have to be over? I'm not sure I'm ready for everyone to suddenly bombard us with all the questions they're gonna have for us about all we've done and seen. Especially like I know my parents will."

Killian smiled at her, kissed her once again, then he lovingly responded, "If it becomes too much, I promise to steal you away again. I love you, Emma. It was more than luck, fate, and even Cora's will to use me as one of her puppets, that we came into each other's lives. It was the true love we share, waiting for us both to find one another and to become who we are now. And I couldn't be more grateful."

"Me neither," the Savior whispered in return and smiled up at him, while she gently traced her fingers over his right cheek until she stopped as she looked again into his eyes. "I love how you know exactly the right thing to say. I love you too, Killian. And like you, I'm grateful as well. I can always do anything so long as you're by my side. So, come on… let's go face the craziness waiting for us back home. We'll probably find Mom, Dad, and Henry at Granny's."

"Aye," her Captain said before he leaned in to kiss her like before, then together they left their quarters to do what was needed so they could pull safely into the harbor.

After the Jolly Roger was docked, Emma and Killian made their way into town hand in hand, towards where they suspected their friends and loved ones would be. The Savior and her pirate were home again at last, and it wouldn't be long before a new adventure found the heroes once again.


	3. Chapter 3

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Three

Meanwhile, at the Sheriff's station…

David was sitting at the desk inside his daughter's office, while he worked on filling out the proper incident reports after having to make a few arrests the night before down at the Rabbit Hole on account of a number of Hook's former band of pirates getting into a fight with Keith that unfortunately ended in bruises, black eyes and a bit of bloodshed, and that very well might have ended in death had the Prince, Mr. Smee, Jefferson, and August not interfered to stop it before it went too far.

As far as the acting sheriff of Storybrooke knew, the pirates had become angry when the former Sheriff of Nottingham pompously attempted to arrest them for stealing gold and other treasures from him and his former guards years ago in Sherwood Forest on more than one occasion, after he had drank a few drinks too many and couldn't remember that he had no authority to make arrests in Storybrooke since he was no longer sheriff in any land. David had quickly received a disturbance call from the Mad Hatter who had been drinking quietly in the back corner of the bar on his own, then together with his friends, David was able to arrest Keith as well as five of the pirates who only escalated the fight after Keith threw the first punch.

Finally, after the Prince had been working for over an hour despite it being barely after eight o'clock in the morning, Snow walked inside the station with their son in one arm and breakfast from Granny's that included coffee for her husband in the other. Upon seeing his wife and son as he looked up from the paperwork strewn out all over the top of the desk when they arrived, David smiled at them, then stood up to take the food and drinks from Snow so she could adjust her hold around their son.

After David then leaned in to kiss her and Neal, he spoke lovingly saying, "Good morning. I'm sorry that I had to leave so early."

He then glanced over at the pirates in one of the cells, and at the former sheriff sitting on his cot alone within the other cell while he continued, "I had to check in on our disrupters over there to make sure that they didn't find a way to kill each other during the night. While I don't like that I had to put each of Hook's former crew together in one cell, I couldn't put any of them with Keith while they all slept off their drunkenness. Any of them would have killed him for sure."

"They've all been in our town long enough now, to where I thought they would have forgotten whatever troubles they had between them in their past lives," the Princess sternly responded as she looked each of the men within the cells over.

"Yeah… well when people get drunk enough, and believe me… they were all pretty drunk last night, especially Keith… any common sense goes right out the door and people don't see too clearly," David replied in frustration, then shook it off and turned back to his wife and smiled at her once more. "Thank you for breakfast and the coffee. Granny's coffee is certainly better the sludge I've tried drinking from here. We should invest in at least a decent coffee maker that isn't as old as the rest of the equipment in here. One that will make a decent cup of coffee. I think Emma and Hook would definitely appreciate it."

Snow glanced over at the machine, then turned back to her husband again and excitedly answered, "Then let's do it. And while we're at it, why don't we talk to Regina and see if she can find it in the budget for us to invest in a few new computers too. At least one for Emma, since Killian still struggles with most of our modern technology and prefers to use it all as little as possible. It's high time this place gets a few upgrades, now that we don't have to worry so much about trouble coming for us from villain after villain since the final battle is finally behind us."

David nodded, then in agreement he responded, "That's a great idea. But Emma and Hook will be home some time today, and once we bombard them with greetings, welcome home hugs, and questions about everything they saw and did while on their honeymoon, then we can talk to them about any changes before we go to Regina. Just to make sure it's something they want first. They are the sheriffs after all. Not me."

"And what changes would those be?" Emma then suddenly asked from the doorway, as she and Killian entered the station upon their return to town, and immediately Snow and David smiled at their daughter and son in law upon seeing they were home at last. "If you're talking about new computers and better surveillance equipment, my answer's absolutely yes."

"You're home!" the Savior's mother immediately exclaimed with excitement, then rushed towards the newlyweds to embrace them together, while David stepped forward and reached out his hand to shake Killian's as he waited for his turn to hug Emma too. "I've missed you. Both of you. I can't wait to hear all about everything!"

Once Snow and David both finally released her daughter after they welcomed her and Killian home, Emma looked down at her brother still in his mother's arm and playfully smiled at him, as Killian reached out to take his little hand to shake it. Neal smiled and then laughed at them, especially at Hook when the pirate Captain made a silly face at him much like he's done before for a number of the small children in town. Emma, Snow, and David smiled at the adorable moment between them as well.

The Prince patted his son in law's shoulder and smiled at him, while Emma looked between her parents and the prisoners currently locked within the cells as she stated, "We were expecting to find you at Granny's for breakfast with Henry and Regina. Possibly Zelena and baby Robin too. We walked in there and were told Dad was here looking after the ones who tried to kill each other down at the Rabbit Hole last night. Apparently, it was a hell of a fight. Unless Grumpy was exaggerating again? What happened?"

David shook his head, then replied, "It's a long story. But we can talk about it later. For now, they're going to remain locked up for awhile, until we can figure out the proper consequences for the damages they made to the bar and for trying to kill each other over past stolen treasure."

"If my crew started the fight, I am sorry," Killian answered in frustration as he looked over at his men in disappointment. "I'm sorry either way. They've been warned about picking fights here. They know better. I assure you they will be punished properly."

"Don't worry about it," Snow quickly assured him. "This isn't on you, even if you were their Captain once. Their actions aren't a reflection on you anymore, Killian."

The Prince nodded and then added, "Snow's right. Besides… they didn't actually start the fight. Keith did. Apparently, your men stole gold and treasure from the former Sheriff of Nottingham in the past and Keith got a little too drunk, then tried to arrest them himself. They didn't take too kindly to him doing so."

Hook sighed, then he responded sternly, "I'm afraid the sheriff's gold and treasures was all stolen by my men on my orders. I'll make restitution to the Sheriff of Nottingham by paying back all that was stolen from him, or at least as much as I can remember collecting, so that hopefully this incident won't ever happen again. At least not because of any pirates."

"That's good of you to do, Killian, but you needn't bother paying him any kind of restitution for whatever happened in the past," Emma replied to her husband as she looked at him with adoration for his willingness to try to make things right, when he wasn't really at fault any longer. "I may not know everything about every fairytale character living here, but I remember enough from Robin Hood to know this Sheriff… was the villain of his story. And all that treasure you and your men stole from him, was most likely stolen treasures from the people of Nottingham. Taxes and such. If you insist on making restitution like I can see that you do, we'll see about finding those from Sherwood Forest who might still be living here, who had their money and goods stolen from them, and we can give what you can give back to them."

"Aye, love," Killian answered as he smiled her upon appreciating her recommendation to give back to the people the treasures were stolen from in the first place, then he leaned in to kiss her. "I'd like that."

David turned back to the bagged food and coffee Snow had brought for him earlier and picked it up so he could carry it with him, then he rejoined his family as he said again, "How about we head to Granny's for breakfast together? I'm finished with the paperwork. I'm famished. We can invite Henry, Regina, and Zelena to join us. Henry's been excited about you coming home soon."

Emma looked at her parents again as she pulled out her cell phone from her pants' pocket to call her son and stated, "Killian and I can't wait to see him and everyone else again too. To Granny's it is."


	4. Chapter 4

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Four

Once they left the station after David double checked the cell doors in order to make sure the prisoners within them couldn't escape while he and the town's true sheriffs were gone for the next few hours, Emma, Killian, Snow, and David with their son now in his father's arms, all started walking down the streets in the direction of Granny's. Thankfully, it was a Saturday, so Henry didn't have school that day and was free to meet them at the diner for breakfast, along with Regina and Zelena with her own daughter too.

However, as the heroes reached the fence surrounding the diner and were about to walk in, they suddenly heard the sounds of a fight involving shouting and the clanking of metal on metal coming from down an alleyway across the street from Granny's. Killian, Emma, and David immediately ran towards the direction of the fight and paused at the end of the alley the moment they saw eight men no one recognized from their distance, fighting one another with swords. Three of them, fighting against the other five in what was clearly an unfair fight.

Hook immediately drew his own sword from its scabbard he wore at his side as he always did, even after David had passed down his firearm to his son in law, because as a pirate, Killian simply preferred his own weapon of choice that he was used to, and then he swiftly started running down the alley to jump into the middle of the fight to help make it a bit more even for those fighting against who Killian assumed were the troublemakers, due to one of the men on the opposite side demanding his men to kill the three.

Emma stared after her husband in surprise the moment he took off running with his own sword pulled out, then she turned to look over at her father, who also glanced back at his wife who had joined with them to see what was happening for herself, then together Emma and David both started running after Hook once the Savior pulled out her own gun to interfere in case Killian couldn't convince the others to stop on his own, or if he were to fall into trouble despite her knowing he was plenty capable of handling himself, especially in a swordfight.

In the meantime, none of the men already within the battle saw that someone was about to interfere in their fight as they continued attacking one another. The leader of the four men fighting against the other three, sidestepped just when one of his enemies swung his own blade down to try to kill him, then swiftly adjusted the eyepatch he wore over his left eye upon feeling it become loose. And then, upon seeing a chance to counterattack his opponent once his back was turned to help another of his friends against his own attacker, the man with the eyepatch raised his blade and lunged in forward to stab his enemy through his back. However, Hook suddenly charged in between the men and swiftly clashed his own blade against it to stop the man about to kill.

The sinister man stared at the newcomer with rage, as the one whom Killian had saved turned to look at him in astonishment, then nodded his head in the way of expressing his gratitude. Then, they both turned on the other men's leader together with their blades raised before them. The battle lasted only a few more moments, before the man with the eyepatch at last shouted out to his men to retreat. Upon hearing their leader's command, the four men with him ran off after him and the remaining three turned to face the one handed man they only knew of, yet had never spoken to so they could know more than a name.

"Thank you… Captain Hook, I believe, is it not?" one of the three questioned him just as Emma joined her husband, lowered her service weapon and put it back into its holster, then reached out to take hold of Killian's hook while he too put away his cutlass.

"Indeed it is," Killian answered the man who spoke out first and reached out to shake his hand once the other man raised it for him to take as a way to show his gratitude for the pirate's help. "Or you can just call me Killian. Killian Jones. My wife… Emma and I are the sheriffs here in Storybrooke. I'm afraid you have us at a disadvantage. Who might you be? And what was that fight all about?"

The leader of the three at last nodded his head in greeting at the four people now standing before them and then he replied, "We know who each of you are. Forgive my friends and I for not being so forthcoming and open enough to introduce ourselves from the day we arrived here some time ago. After all we've been through, I fear trust doesn't come so easy for us. My name is Athos. And my friends here are Porthos and Aramis. We are soldiers from a land far away from here. A land which I fear may no longer even exist."

David smiled at them in awe, then he spoke eagerly saying, "I know very well who you are. You're the Musketeers. From one of my favorite classic novels that I have memories of having read while I was David Nolan… The Three Musketeers. The three of you are legendary."

Aramis slightly bowed his head in gratitude for the man's praise, until he looked between those before him and his friends as he responded sadly, "Perhaps we were once. Not anymore I'm afraid. Now I fear we're nothing more than disgraces. Everything we once believed in and fought for is dead. No more than a dream."

"However, perhaps it doesn't have to be," Porthos continued as he looked to his friends and then turned to look over at the Savior. "We know of your reputation, Ms. Swan. That you are a Savior. Like Athos said, we know of who each of you are by your deeds and all the good you have done to help your people here in this town, as well as a number of us who came over from the Land of Untold Stories when Hyde brought us all here."

"What Porthos is trying to say is, we were hoping we could have an opportunity to talk with each of you," Athos reluctantly continued. "We should have come sooner in order to introduce ourselves, seeing as it is us who owes you all for a favor because you… Captain, were the one who saved us from being injured in that battle, if not even killed. But nevertheless, could we go someplace to talk? If it's not too much trouble."

"Join us for breakfast at Granny's," Snow answered, as Emma looked over at her husband and smiled at him before she simply leaned in momentarily to kiss his cheek, before they both followed after everyone else once they all continued on to the diner, walking arm in arm.

Once they all entered inside the diner and greeted Granny who waved at her friends from behind the counter, Killian and Emma sat together in one of the booths as Emma's parents sat in the booth across from them, while the Musketeers took a seat at the table beside them so they could talk.

David then turned back to the men he admired from the stories he knew of them as he asked, "So, those men you were fighting back there… their leader with the eyepatch was Count… Count de Rochefort, wasn't it? I know of him from your book too. The eyepatch gives him away."

Aramis nodded and replied, "It does give him away. You're right about who he is. But the men he was fighting with… they aren't from our land. They weren't any of the men under his command within the Red Guards. We can only assume they are men who are either from the Land of Untold Stories, or they're from here in Storybrooke."

"It doesn't really matter where they are from," Porthos gruffly retorted. "They have sided with Rochefort. They are all traitors."

"Who are traitors?" Regina suddenly questioned, as she, Henry, and Zelena all walked up to their friends and family after they had entered the diner through the back door just seconds earlier. "Is everything here alright?"

Emma immediately stood up to hug her son once he came over so they could upon seeing one another again now that she and Killian were home, then Killian simply reached out to shake the boy's hand in greeting, rather than struggle with trying to get out from the booth. Then Henry quickly sat down next to Emma on the bench as well.

Meanwhile, David looked between Regina and Zelena, and the Musketeers as he introduced them saying, "Regina… Zelena… these are the Musketeers. Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. We were talking about the men who attacked our friends here minutes before we arrived here at the diner. We came upon them swordfighting."

"What exactly was this fight about?" Regina then asked as she looked over at the men she vaguely recognized from having seen them around town before, including at the town meeting she held back when Hyde first brought all of those from the Land of Untold Stories into Storybrooke upon the dirigible.

Before any of the soldiers could answer her, Granny came over to greet everyone again and then took their breakfast and drink orders. The Musketeers had begun to decline ordering something to eat, until Granny insisted since the three men were guests staying at her Bed and Breakfast.

"We've been fighting Rochefort for a very long time now," Athos finally responded to Regina's question. "We're simply enemies fighting on the opposite sides. We used to fight to protect our King and all of France from treachery like Rochefort and the men Rochefort fights for… Cardinal Richelieu and our King. Or at least we did… until we all became trapped within the Land of Untold Stories."

Henry looked between the Musketeers with admiration as he asked, "I thought your King was a good King. Someone you lived to protect along with your country. King Louis… right?"

Aramis smiled at the boy sadly and then he answered, "I'm afraid that was King Louis the XIII. We loved and admired our King then very much until the day he died at much too young of age. And when he did, Louis' only son, Louis the XIV became the new King. And sadly, our new King was easily corrupted by Cardinal Richelieu and Count Rochefort. France soon changed upon growing corrupt and immoral right along with our King and those who tutored him against our efforts to show him the evils spreading through our beloved country. One day, we Musketeers were disbanded by our King thanks to Richelieu's influence and because the three of us refused to fall to their demands, we eventually became outlaws in the land we only fought to serve."

"Unfortunately, there was one of us who refused to come with us into hiding as we worked to formulate a plan to overthrow our King, the Cardinal, and the Count," Athos added upon speaking up again at last. "Our dear friend… d'Artagnan. We could no longer tolerate our King's treachery and vowed to find a way to save our land. However, despite d'Artagnan's love for us, his devotion to the King and our country was much too strong. He could not become a traitor as we have become. He stayed behind to become Louis' bodyguard, while Rochefort was promoted to Captain of the new soldiers who rose up to replace the Musketeers… the Red Guards. The three of us were branded as traitors to our King and all of France and we were forced into hiding. Eventually, we heard of this strange new land where we were told we could be safe from being hunted down and where our stories would stop…"

"The Land of Untold Stories," Killian sternly finished for the Musketeer. "You somehow found the magical portal that brought you there?"

Porthos nodded sadly and then he replied, "We did. And we are ashamed to say that we gave into our fear of defeat and passed through this magical portal to this strange new land where he eventually became nothing but prisoners of our own regrets. We even remained so after we found ourselves here when Hyde brought many of us over from that land."

Athos then stated, "We didn't realize that Count de Rochefort followed us through the portal until we arrived here in Storybrooke. As we said, our stories ended once we found ourselves in the Land of Untold Stories. The whole time we lived there, we didn't have anyone to fight against. Rochefort never once attacked us. Until our stories again began to move forward upon coming here. This brings us to why we hoped to speak with you, Ms. Swan. Because you are the Savior for all of those here in this world of yours, you have done much for everyone. My brothers and I were hoping you could help us too. We were hoping you could open up a new portal that will transport us home, to our own land and time. We fear that today's fight occurred because Rochefort revealed to us a secret we never knew until today. He told us that d'Artagnan had been slain in a battle where he tried to protect the King just days before we fled to the Land of Untold Stories. We wish to return to a time before we fled and before our friend fell so that we can save him and continue to fight to save our brother and our country as we always should have."

"You're asking us if there's a way to create a time travel spell?" Zelena at last retorted with surprise.

"We heard tell that such a feat has been done before," Porthos responded to her. "We have heard many stories around this town from the people. They like to talk. We understand the Savior and Hook once travel through time after the Wicked Witch created a time portal."

Emma at last spoke again as she answered sternly, "It's true that Killian and I did travel back in time through Zelena's time portal she created, but the spell written to do so is extremely difficult and the ingredients needed to create it are not possible to collect. Zelena did all this back when she was a villain and was willing to sacrifice everyone's lives to get what she wanted. And even when she was almost successful, her plan backfired on her. The portal did open and Killian and I did fall through it, but it was a mistake. We were pulled into it. I'm afraid creating a time portal for you is impossible."

However, she then thought a moment when something during hers and Killian's time in the past sparked her memory, until she looked over at her husband as she continued, "Unless it isn't so impossible after all."

"What are you thinking of, love?" Killian asked her apprehensively.

"I'll tell you once we get to where you and I are going," the Savior replied to him, then began to usher Henry out of his seat so that she and Killian could get out of the booth in order to leave. "We need to go talk with Gold."

She then turned to the Musketeers again and added, "There may be a chance, but I don't want to say anything more until I know if I'm right. I don't want to give you false hope. At least not any more than I have already. Give me and Killian some time to work it out. We'll come find you later once we know more."

Aramis stood up from his chair and reached out to take Emma's hand in his own to kiss it as the gentleman and ladies' man his reputation told of him, then he responded, "Thank you truly, milady. You are indeed as extraordinary and as beautiful as the stories that have been told of the Savior say you to be."

"She's a married woman, Aramis," Athos sternly warned his old friend upon recognizing the look of desire which he has seen in Aramis' eyes many times in all the years they've been brothers. "And one I doubt very highly would fall prey to your charm."

"Your friend's right," Emma answered him unwaveringly as she pulled her hand away from the charming and handsome Musketeer's hands, then looked over at Killian with deep love for him in her eyes as she smiled. "I love my husband more than I've ever loved anyone, and could ever love again. I went to Hell to being him back when death tried to tear him away from me. So believe me when I say, I'm really not interested."

Aramis bowed to her and then to Emma and Killian, he sincerely replied, "My sincerest apologies, milady. And to you as well, Captain. I meant no harm."

Most of the others smiled upon seeing the look of contempt on Killian's face as the Musketeer hit on Emma until the man apologized, allowing for Killian to unwind once he accepted it, then Henry looked between the soldiers from Seventeenth Century France and one of the most well known classic novels, as he said excitedly, "You three really are the Three Musketeers. Incredible. While we're waiting for Mom to get back from talking with Gold, you should come with us back to mine, my other mom's, and Aunt Zelena's home. I have most of the storybooks there. I usually turn to them for answers when we come across someone who needs our help. There might be something in them that can help us help you."

"Thank you, lad," Athos kindly responded to him. "We would appreciate any help all of you might be able to provide us with."

"It's what our family does," Charming at last spoke again, then once Emma and Killian left the diner to walk down to Gold's shop, everyone else began to eat the food Granny brought out to them.


	5. Chapter 5

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Five

Meanwhile…

After Count de Rochefort, who was known to those from the Land Without Magic as an infamous and treacherous character in the classic novel, The Three Musketeers, ran from the fight once one of the town's sheriffs had interfered to bring the battle to an end, he and the four men who fought for him hastily made their way down the back streets through town to avoid being seen, until finally they came upon one of Storybrooke's two pubs known as Aesop's Tables, then quietly entered inside and walked to the back towards the only lone and darkly lit table, where someone was waiting for one of the story's villain's arrival.

As the man wearing a black eyepatch over his left eye approached, the four men behind him magically merged with the villain until they all suddenly became one man, who then transformed back into his true self the moment he turned to come face to face with the real Count de Rochefort, who was already sitting down.

Rochefort then looked up at the imposter from beneath the rounded feathered hat which shielded his eyes and his face from any onlookers within the pub, including those who waited on him while he was waiting, and he spoke sinisterly saying, "So, Iago… did you do as I asked? Did the Musketeers fall for the story I told you to tell them about the death of their friend?"

The imposter sat down at the table across from him as he replied quietly, "I have. And it appears they have fallen for your brilliant deception, Count Rochefort."

"Very good," Rochefort responded, then lowered his head again while he continued to look over the menus on the table in front of him.

"Forgive me, My Lord… but only part of the deal between us has been completed," the man known as Iago from Agrabah said again a bit more nervously than before. "You did me a favor by removing that blasted magic dampening cuff from my wrist, put on me by the Queen of this strange land. And I swore I would do this favor for you in return. Now, I have completed my first task for you. However, you have yet to tell me the rest of your plan. But first… has the thief you have tasked with stealing back my lamp for me from this Queen's magical vault succeeded yet?"

The Count reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a magical lamp forged in thin black metals the moment Iago had become enslaved to the life of a Genie by an evil sorcerer from his land long ago, then held it up for Iago to see before he hid it away from him once again as he answered, "The thief has indeed. But it's as I've told you, until our mission is fully complete and we are at last safe within my own land and time, your lamp will remain in my possession like we have agreed."

Iago nodded in understanding, then once Rochefort motioned to the waiter to come and take his order and walked away again, the Genie questioned him again asking, "So… is the Musketeers' friend truly dead?"

"Quite," the sinister man quietly replied to him once he lifted his head once more to finally look at the imposter while they continued to talk. "Everyone we ever knew from our land have now been long dead. We are from a world that existed long ago. However, their friend didn't actually die as I had you tell them he had. This is why it was imperative that you told them my story about how d'Artagnan supposedly died. The Musketeers needed the proper motivation to go to the Savior seeking for her help to open up a time portal. I've heard all the stories about the wondrous things she's done for these people in this infernal land because of who she is, that include how she and her pirate fell through a time portal and found their way back home. So I orchestrated for a number of people here to speak about their time within the past around my enemies' so that the idea for them to go to talk with this powerful woman would become implanted within their minds. You were the last piece of the puzzle I needed in order to convince the Musketeers that they too finally needed a way to return to our own home. I have grown tired of this world and this time. Now they wish to leave Storybrooke as much as I do."

"And when we do succeed… once we have returned to Seventeenth Century France where and when you and the enemies of yours are from, you will use your first wish to free me from my lamp so that it will no longer hold power over me?" the Genie suspiciously questioned him once more. "You will talk with your King and the Cardinal about the good I've accomplished for you?"

Count de Rochefort nodded and responded darkly, "I have given you my word. So long as you continue to use your magic that comes with being the Genie you are to help us against the Musketeers and this world's heroes when the time comes that we will need magic."

Iago smiled haughtily, then he answered, "Your wish is my command. Not in the literal sense of course… since I have warned you of the consequences of making a wish and you now know better than to do so. I simply meant that my magic is at your service, My Lord."

And with that said, the Genie stood from the table and bowed his head to the villain who remained seated. Then, Iago left the bar so Rochefort could eat and drink alone while he remained in the dim light of the candle upon the table in front of him once the waiter brought his order and served him, unaware of the sinister plot being put into place against this town's heroes.


	6. Chapter 6

All For One, One For All, And All For Love

Chapter Six

After they left Granny's and walked down the street to Gold's shop, Emma shared her idea on how to help the Musketeers with Killian. While he agreed that her idea could potentially work, he couldn't help but be nervous on account of them using magic once again to do what few people with powerful magic have ever succeeded in doing. Plus… as the Savior had learned in the most difficult of ways during their previous adventure with time travel, messing with events in the past could do untold damage to the world they know.

Once they arrived outside the door to the pawnshop, the Savior looked over at her husband seeking assurance that helping the Musketeers like they have helped countless other people find their own happy endings, was the right thing to do. Killian simply smiled back at her and reached down to take her hand to give it a gentle squeeze, then finally she let go so they could walk inside the shop where they hoped to find its owner inside.

"Morning, Crocodile!" Hook facetiously called out to Gold when he and Emma saw the man striving to become a hero like the man his own wife already saw him to be, standing behind the back counter beside Belle and their son, who was lying quietly within his bassinet on top of the glass case after baby Gideon awoke and was pulled from his crib by his mother. "And Belle… of course."

"And here I thought we were slowly starting to become friends, Captain?" the Dark One snidely responded to the pirate, who only smiled back at him cheekily. "Surely it's time you come up with a new nickname that doesn't seem quite so… derogatory."

Hook smugly answered, "You still call me, 'Pirate' every now and again. We've known one another for over two hundred years and change has never really been so simple for either one of us. Not without the help of the women in our lives. But don't worry, Gold… I assure you, I speak my pet name for you more out of respect now."

Belle looked over at her husband with a smile as she replied, "Killian is speaking the truth, Rumple. As much as both of you have trouble admitting your actually friends now most of the time, I know that you are. I can tell."

"Then to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit this morning?" Rumple finally questioned as he and Belle looked between both Emma and Hook, while the beauty gently rocked the bassinet side to side to keep Gideon from crying upon knowing he must be hungry after sleeping mostly through the night. "Have you come to ask a favor? A new villain hasn't attacked?"

"No," Emma responded a little too quickly. "Yes… actually. I mean… not really a villain who's a threat to us so much, as he's more of a threat to a few people who have come from the Land of Untold Stories back when Hyde brought everyone here. The Musketeers."

Belle smiled as she eagerly stated, "From _The Three Musketeers_, by Alexandre Dumas. I love that book. I've read it at least twice. About as many times as I've read most of the books in the library. Except of course for those that are my favorites. I've read them many times."

She then remembered there was a reason for Emma and Killian coming to see them and she quickly apologized, "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to change the subject. What sort of trouble might they be in and how can we help?"

"We were actually hoping we could discuss the possibility of opening up another time portal," the Savior nervously answered her, then she and Killian both turned back to Gold once again.

"I don't understand?" the Dark One said with confusion while he looked at Emma like she was joking. "You both know better than anyone of the dangers and consequences for messing around with time travel. And of course… opening a portal alone is impossible without the right ingredients, which of course neither of you would even consider trying to use in order to accomplish such a feat."

Emma sternly replied, "Of course not. We all risked out lives to stop Zelena from killing my brother and using your brain to open her portal. Although… she did somehow still succeed even though we did stop her."

She quickly shook her head to collect her thoughts after getting off track for a moment and then she continued, "My point is… what if there was another way to open the portal without having to sacrifice anything? The Musketeers became trapped in the Land of Untold Stories a long, long time ago and all this time, they've been afraid to resume their story because they feel they have disgraced everything they've ever stood for out of fear and despair because of everything they've lost. But today, their enemy has reminded them of what they used to fight for and they long to return home to their own land and time so they can right their wrongs."

"I thought that maybe I could help them, if I used the wand you once gave me to reopen the time portal back when Killian and I became trapped in the past after we got my parents back together again when we… or I inadvertently prevented them from ever meeting," the Savior finally finished as she looked over at her husband with worry, before turning back to Gold as they waited for his answer.

"Well… if you recall, I told you before when you spoke of your little time travel adventure upon your return, that I don't remember ever helping you two open up another portal so you could return home," Gold sternly responded after he took a moment to stare at Emma and the Captain in disbelief.

Killian nodded and answered, "Aye… because you took a forgetting potion so you wouldn't remember the changes we inadvertently made and that we were ever there, in order to avoid the catastrophic consequences that would have come if you had remembered. But the point is… you gave Emma a wand that you said has the power to recreate any magic that's ever been wielded. And you were right. Emma's magic allowed for her to reopen the portal so we could come home. Do you still have this wand?"

The Dark One walked around the counter and stepped over to the cabinets behind the glass case to his left where he kept the Black Fairy's magic wand hidden, pulled out the wooden box in which the powerful relic was contained, then carefully picked it up with both of his hands to reveal it to those seeking its power so they can try to help those seeking to return home. Emma reached out as she attempted to take it from him, until Gold swiftly pulled it away from her and raised one hand while holding the wand in the other, as if to ask her to hold on a moment.

He then spoke again to warn them before giving his mother's wand over to the Savior saying, "I understand that it is your duty as Savior to return everyone's happy endings, including those not from our own world, Ms. Swan. Just as you have done even for me. But be careful with this wand. And be careful how you use it. Should you open another time portal to these Musketeers' world within their time, do not allow yourselves to be pulled through it again. Who knows what would be awaiting you on the other side of the portal. There may not even be magic in their land. You may not be as lucky as you were in finding your way home the first time. And I won't be there to help you like I was in your parents' past."

"Believe me… I have no intention of being pulled through another time portal," Emma gruffly replied, then carefully took possession of the Black Fairy's wand once Gold finally released it to her. "Thank you, Gold. I promise you… I'll return it to you once we get them safely back home."

"I know you will, Emma," the former villain responded to her in understanding. "I trust you. Good luck."

She smiled at him and Belle, as Killian briefly played with baby Gideon, then together the Savior and her pirate left the pawnshop to meet up with her parents, son, Regina, Zelena, and the Musketeers again so they could discuss their plan to help get their friends home once they use the wand to open a new time portal.

A few hours later…

Emma stood with Killian hand in hand, along with David and Snow who also stayed close to one another, Regina, Henry, Zelena, as well as the three Musketeers just outside of the barn next to the former Wicked Witch's farmhouse where the first time portal ever was created a year earlier. Since the symbols for the portal were already etched into the ground from when Zelena had opened a portal before, both Regina and Zelena suspected the magic would be the strongest in the place where their feat was already successful and had encouraged Emma to trust them. Which she did. So the heroes all walked from town out to Zelena's farmhouse, then stood by waiting for the Musketeers to offer their gratitude to them for helping them.

As the three men stood among the heroes from Storybrooke, once again fully dressed in their uniforms down to the Fleur de Lis patches worn over their right arms which they had some time ago put away out of shame, at last revealing again the true appearance of Musketeers, Athos spoke for his brothers in arms sincerely saying, "There aren't words we can offer to show you how truly grateful we are to each of you for all you're doing for us. But… thank you nonetheless."

Snow smiled as she answered gently, "We're just happy we can help you find your way home. It's what we do. We hope you find everything you're looking for. And that you can save your friend."

Aramis looked over at his closest friend, Porthos and smiled as he clapped his back in excitement, then he turned back to the heroes again while he replied, "Thank you all. Especially for reminding us of the men we thought we lost within ourselves long ago. We may not have stepped forward to take up our uniforms and swords until today, but we've watched all of you fight battle after battle against many villains no matter the danger. And you continue to defeat them because you're heroes. It's been an honor to have lived among you for a time, even if we haven't shown it 'til now."

"What Aramis said," Porthos swiftly added and then laughed. "I'm not as good with words like he and Athos are. So just… thank you."

"You're very welcome," David responded as he smiled at the Musketeer who was larger in stature than his two friends were, as Emma then stepped forward a little upon letting go of her husband's hand so that she could begin to summon her power through the Black Fairy's wand to open the portal.

While she and everyone else remained far enough away from the symbols on the ground so as to avoid being pulled into the force of the portal once it opened, the Savior kept the wand raised out in front of her as she thought of her time in the past, as well as Killian's words he had spoken to her which allowed her to find her strength within herself again so she could open up the time portal that brought them back home. And her own words to him crossed her mind too.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, thirty or so years earlier…

_After Hook placed the urn he had picked up back down on the table beside him, as he heard the frustration in Emma's voice while she spoke, the Captain grumbled, "__I'm just trying to figure a way out."_

_ Feeling defeated, Emma answered, "I don't think there is one. And what's the point? You heard what he said. We can't reopen the portal."_

_ "But you can," Killian had told her with adoration, in the hope of helping her to find her strength within herself again. "All he said we need is magic. You're the Savior, Swan. You can do it."_

_ "Not anymore," she stubbornly replied to him again. "I lost it."_

_ "When Zelena died, all of her spells were undone," he stated more resolutely. "Your powers should have been restored."_

_ However, the Savior looked at him crossly as she continued in anger, "Believe me… if I could make it work, I would. You think I'm faking it?"_

_ As much as he hated to be cross with the woman he knew he already loved, Hook brusquely retorted, "I think not having magic makes it a lot easier for you to run back to New York and pretend to be somebody else. But listen to me, Swan. You're not. It's time to stop running."_

_ "You think I don't know that?" she then asked the man before her with surprise in her eyes while she stared at Hook, feeling a bit taken aback by the harshness in his words, until at last she finally answered him, her voice breaking a little as she spoke. "Yes… I run away. That's how I've always survived. But believe me… I want this to work. I wanna go back. I wanna stop running."_

_ "What's changed your mind?" he then asked while he looked at her with surprise as well._

_ They both continued looking one another in their eyes, tears coming into her own while she whispered gently, "Watching my mother die. Thinking she was dead… You saw what happened. I was so relieved when she was okay. And I hugged her. And you know what I saw in her eyes? Nothing. She didn't know who I was. I had saved her and lost her too. And that's what I've been doing to her since I met her. It's got to stop. When Henry brought me to Storybrooke he told me I was the Savior. I didn't see what he was really doing. He was not bringing me back to break a curse. He was bringing me home. Neal was right."_

_ Hook asked her quietly, "About what?"_

_ "You don't have a home until you just miss it," Emma continued as she smiled at him kindly. "Being with my parents the last few days, but not really being with them? I've never missed them more. Storybrooke… That's my home."_

_ "What?" she then questioned him upon seeing him smile at her cheekily._

_ The Captain lowered his eyes to her hand still holding onto the fairy wand and then he responded to her, "Look down."_

_ When Emma did so, she also noticed that the wand had begun to glimmer brightly and Killian spoke again proudly saying, "I'd say you've got your magic back. Now… shall we go?"_

_ As she was doing now in their present time for the Musketeers, Emma had concentrated to reopen the portal that would bring them home to Storybrooke, and that would now hopefully bring their friends back home to Seventeenth Century France so long as they thought about their home and the time period where they came from as they passed through it._

_ "Yup… well done, Swan," Killian said once more, as Emma heard her husband's last words he spoke to her before he entered the portal in her head, until at last… the new portal she was concentrating so hard on, finally opened up before her and the rest of the heroes._

"Just like before… you've done it, Swan," her husband spoke to her lovingly, breaking her from her thoughts once he came up behind her again and lowered his hand over the small of her back, then the Savior turned her head to look over while she smiled up at him.

She then whispered, "Thanks to you."

Regina turned to the Musketeers as she stated to them firmly, "Now… when you pass through, each of you need to focus solely on your home and on the time in which you wish to return to. That's how portals work. At least how time portals work. You must think about where you are trying to return to. Because if you don't, you could wind up anywhere else, or in any other time period. Do you understand?"

Athos looked between his friends who both nodded, then turned back to the Queen as the Musketeers' leader bowed his head in gratitude once again and answered, "We do. Thank you again, my friends."

And with that said, they turned to the portal, then the three men from another land stood together as they walked forward until they stepped through at last, then vanished from before the heroes from Storybrooke. Emma looked down at the fairy wand in her hand and was about to lower it again in order to make the time portal disappear.

However, before she could, a jagged dagger floated by magic in the air until it was suddenly thrust firmly up against Killian's throat, causing him to gasp upon feeling the blade begin to cut ever so slightly into his skin. Then, everyone except for the pirate Captain who stood absolutely still in worry of being killed should he move, immediately turned to the sound of a menacing voice that spoke up behind them, as the sinister man wearing a black eyepatch, who had fought the Musketeers and Hook earlier that morning, slowly approached them, along with the Genie who had come to their world from Agrabah just over a month ago so he could save Killian from another threat to him back then.

"I wouldn't close the portal just yet, Savior," the villain threateningly demanded, as the Genie used his powers to keep the blade to Killian's throat. "I mean to follow after the Musketeers so I no longer have to remain trapped in this world of yours any longer myself. As does my new friend here. I suggest you do as I demand, or your husband will die."

"I'm not closing the portal, so let him go!" the Savior angrily retorted as she glared between the threats before them, while keeping close to her husband out of fear upon seeing him in danger once again. "If you wanted our help to return home yourself, all you needed to do was ask. You don't have to threaten us."

Regina then looked over at the Genie, as she summoned a fireball into one of her hands and questioned him, "So you formed an alliance with this man, so that he would remove the magic dampening cuff I put on you to keep you powers neutralized? Don't forget… we have something of yours that keeps you in line, so I suggest you do as Emma said and let Hook go."

Iago just smiled at the former Evil Queen coolly, as Count de Rochefort reached into his jacket once again to pull out the magic lamp for all the heroes to see, then the Genie replied smugly, "I'm afraid not, Your Majesty. Not anymore. Snuff out your fire, or I will finish off the Savior's true love here, then move on to threatening someone else."

"Alright!" she then shouted angrily and did as was demanded of her, as soon as the Genie used his magic to slice a long but shallow cut into Killian's exposed neck in order to prove his point when Regina didn't take his treat as seriously as she should have, once again causing Emma's husband to gasp and wince upon feeling the pain that came from the action. "No more fire. Just what the hell do you two want? You both really just want to pass through the portal? Be my guest. But I suggest you hurry, because I doubt even the Savior can hold it open for too much longer. I'm surprised she's managed to this long."

"I told you… I want to go home, so I will," Rochefort responded again. "And Iago will be coming with me, since he's clearly not welcome here anymore. Allow us to pass, and this one handed pirate will be just fine. Oh… and I want the fairy wand too."

Emma shook her head while she continued to concentrate on keeping the portal open despite her struggle to do so, then she answered crossly, "No. No way. You can leave through the portal, but I can't let you have this wand. It's not mine to give up. Besides… I don't know if the portal will remain open if I give it up."

Zelena quickly added, "The portal might, but not for much longer once that wand leaves the Savior's hands. It will begin to collapse within seconds. Trust me… I know more about time portals than anyone. And I know it's taking a lot of effort on Emma's part to even keep it open for this long."

"Seconds is all I need," the villain sneered, then stepped forward and walked around in front of Emma's husband so that he was closer to the portal, followed by the Genie, while Emma and everyone else turned back again to continue to face them. "The wand, Savior. Give it to me now. Or the man you love will soon be a dead man."

"Don't do it, Swan," Killian weakly pleaded with her as he struggled to look over at her through the corners of his eyes, until he once again felt the edge of the blade bite into his skin enough to draw more blood when Iago motioned for the dagger to cut into him like before.

"I don't have a choice," the woman who loved him sadly replied to him, then swiftly thrust the Black Fairy's wand into Rochefort's outstretched hand waiting for her to comply with his demand. "I can't lose you again."

All of a sudden, the portal began to discharge some of its energy as it began to collapse the moment the wand left her touch just as Emma feared it would, causing the ground to tremble and everyone to have to steady themselves in order to keep from falling to the ground. The Genie quickly charged forward and ran into the portal, allowing for the dagger at Killian's throat to fall and hit the ground. And then, before Emma or anyone else could stop the villain wearing an eyepatch over his left eye, Count Rochefort brusquely grabbed a tight hold of Killian and immediately dragged him forward as he too then charged with his prisoner into the portal as well.

Upon seeing her husband vanish once he was dragged forward, Emma immediately cried out, "Killian!"

Without hesitation, Emma ran after them to save her husband despite Gold's warning not to allow themselves to be pulled through time once again. Snow shouted out to her daughter until she disappeared, then she turned to her own husband when David swiftly leaned in to kiss her lips as his way of saying goodbye to his wife so he could chase after their daughter and son in law, followed closely by Regina and Zelena just in time, as the portal suddenly closed behind them at last, leaving only Snow White and Henry behind.

The teenager then turned his head to look over at his grandmother as he whispered assuredly, "Everything's going to be okay, Grandma. Mom will find Killian and the wand, and they'll come back. They always make their way back. No matter what trouble arises. You'll see."


	7. Chapter 7

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Seven

In the meantime…

Belle and Rumple, with Gideon, were currently at the Charmings' Farm looking after Neal for them, as well as baby Robin for Zelena, while their parents were out helping the Musketeers get home. The beauty was more than happy to have volunteered to look after the children for their friends, especially because she enjoyed seeing her own child play and laugh with Neal and Robin, all of whom were quite close to being the same age, Gideon being the youngest of the three.

And while Rumple was also happy to see his son happily playing with their friends' children and his wife laughing as she played with them, he was still struggling with living a life without using his dark magic for everything and he appreciated having Belle always there with him to keep him grounded. Especially when his vision of Rumplestiltskin appeared to try to draw him back into the darkness.

A short while later, after seeing that her husband appeared to have become lost in his thoughts once she finally looked up from the children continuing to play on the floor in front of them, Belle reached out as she gently laid her hand down on Gold's shoulder and then she whispered, "Rumple? Are you all right?"

He immediately turned to look at her again as he quickly answered, "Yes… of course I am. I'm sorry. I was only thinking about how our friends might be faring. I'm certain Emma will be able to open the time portal just fine. It's just… something seems off. Off about the Musketeers' story, I mean. I don't really have to know what all was shared with Emma and Hook to wonder why it is these Musketeers suddenly wish to return home now, when they didn't feel the need to all these months since all of those from the Land of Untold Stories were brought here by Hyde. Why today?"

She thought for a moment, then responded, "Perhaps they've simply grown tired of feeling homesick. I can't imagine the Musketeers having any reason to lie to our friends. They are good men. Or at least, I hope they're as good as they are in their book. Perhaps they've discovered something about their life in their own time that has caused them to feel the need to return home to change what happened. Or perhaps, they feel the need to right certain wrongs in their pasts that they can no longer live with. I'm sure everything is alright, Rumple. They'll all be back soon."

"It appears you're right," Gold then replied upon hearing a key within the lock of the door as someone returned to the Charmings' home.

However, only Snow and Henry walked through the door and upon reading the sorrowful and worried looks on their faces, Gold knew something had gone wrong. But when Belle was about to ask Snow what had happened, the Princess immediately walked away from them and entered hers and her husband's bedroom to be alone for a few minutes, leaving Henry there to explain everything to his other grandparents.

"Henry?" Rumple began to question the boy with sympathy while he and Belle continued to look up at him. "What's happened? Was your mother able to open the portal?"

"Of course she did," his grandson gruffly answered him out of frustration. "I'm sorry. It's just that everything was going fine until Count Rochefort… you know, one of the Musketeers' most dangerous of enemies from their novel? He and the Genie who Mom, Grandma, and our friends brought back with them from Agrabah to save Killian from that dagger which aged him down, also arrived at Zelena's farmhouse so that they too could pass through the portal once Mom succeeded in opening it and the Musketeers passed through it. But for some reason, they wanted the Black Fairy's wand and they threatened Killian in order to get Mom to give it up."

Belle looked up at him with worry as she asked, "Is Killian all right? Where is he? Where are Emma and the others?"

Henry looked down and shook his head, then he responded sadly, "Rochefort suddenly dragged Killian through the portal as soon as Mom gave him the wand. She and Grandpa, as well as my other mom and Zelena, all jumped through the portal just before it closed so that they could go after them and save Killian, and to get back the wand so they can all get back home too."

"I feared something like this would happen," Gold said again sternly once he looked back down at his son on the floor. "Perhaps it was unwise for me to give Emma the wand. Not that I don't trust her and the others with it. It's just that something always seems to go wrong when dealing with time travel. Just as Emma and Hook learned from the last time a time portal was opened."

"Is there anything you can do to help them?" Snow suddenly asked when she reappeared in the room behind them, as Gold, Belle, and Henry all turned to look up at her, until Snow then joined them in the living and bent down to pick up her son so she could hold him. "Anything we can do? I know that without the wand…"

The Dark One interrupted her reluctantly as he stated, "I'm afraid there's nothing even I can do for them. They are on their own. It's up to them to get themselves back home. They must find the magic wand and take it back from this villain now in possession of it. However, perhaps we won't all just have to remain here simply waiting and hoping for them all to return home safely."

Snow looked at him in confusion as she questioned, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that perhaps Henry might have the power to allow us to look into what's happening to our friends so long as they remain trapped once again within the past," Rumple replied to her, then turned his head to look up at his grandson once more.

"You mean… we can follow what's happening now that they've become a part of the Three Musketeers' story," the young Author suddenly replied, as if he was able to read Gold's thoughts and remembered he had powers he no longer used, even after he brought the second quill home from the Underworld. "I just need the storybook with their story in it, and my powers should allow us to see their story's pages as if they were a crystal ball looking into the past. Because they all traveled through time and the Musketeers' story is about to be rewritten… very possibly with my moms, Killian, Grandpa, and Zelena in it."

Gold smiled at him proudly and then he assured him, "Exactly right. Always a clever boy. Now go and get your book."

Henry immediately ran out of the house so he could make his way back into town and to his home where he lived with his adopted mother to grab the storybook containing the Musketeers' story within it, then Snow sat down on the couch in front of her friends and children on the floor and she looked at the Dark One while she spoke to him in gratitude saying, "Thank you, Gold."


	8. Chapter 8

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Eight

Paris, Seventeenth Century France…

Out on the hills just beyond the great forest, the skies above were bright and blue as the white clouds slowly rolled by, and the grass and the trees within the forest and on the hills were green and healthy. Paris, was as beautiful as ever. No outsiders who ever came to this great city except for the wealthy and powerful who helped to feed Louis' greed, truly knew that beyond Paris' beauty, ruled a cruel and selfish young King who followed the teachings of a corrupt and treacherous Cardinal, and killed anyone who dared to defy him without remorse, including the former Musketeers who now lived in disgrace for simply longing to fight for a good and just King.

All was quiet upon these hills, until all of a sudden, a bright light appeared when a strange and magical portal opened up within the air, as three men swiftly fell through it and landed roughly on the ground. If anyone was around and saw what just occurred, they'd be terribly afraid, thinking the magic to have come from witchcraft upon magic in this time being rare and feared. However, for the soldiers who fell through and found themselves home again at last, they were grateful for the existence of magic.

Before the portal even closed, the three Musketeers sat up and weakly struggled to get back on their feet as they helped one another to do so, then at last they turned and stared out all around them to study the world they haven't seen for centuries. The world that was finally theirs again.

"I can't believe it… we're home," Porthos whispered with surprise in his voice as he continued to stare out beyond the hills, until at last he looked between his two brothers and clasped their shoulders and gave a shout of excitement, while Athos and Aramis just smiled.

Unfortunately, their joy was short lived, when each of them finally turned around again upon realizing that the portal was still open, for longer than they suspected it should be. Then as they turned, they took a few steps back from it out of concern while the men continued to stare up at it warily.

And then, three more men suddenly fell through the magical portal and landed hard upon the ground just like the Musketeers had moments ago. However, two of them stood up immediately, while the third man struggled to rise until the others bent down to pull him up with them so they could continue to drag him along. Once they were back on their feet, the Musketeers stared at one of the men they saw to be their enemy, Count de Rochefort in shock after seeing he had somehow followed them through, then worryingly looked over at the hero who had fought by their side earlier that morning against Rochefort, whom the villain and his partner had dragged through with them upon taking the pirate captive.

"No… Rochefort, how did you…?" Athos attempted to question their enemy as he and his brothers swiftly pulled out their swords and stood ready for a fight. "Let our friend go!"

The man wearing an eyepatch simply smiled at them cruelly, then he quickly looked over at the Genie and commanded firmly, "Take us away from here. Somewhere into the middle of the forest. Now!"

Iago didn't hesitate as he raised his hand, then magicked himself, Hook, and his new master away like he was ordered, before the three Musketeers could do anything to help the Captain. They stared off at where the men were standing seconds ago, until others the soldiers recognized from their time spent in Storybrooke suddenly fell through the portal as well, just before the time portal closed at last.

Once the heroes struggled to sit up while they looked out at the strange new world around them for any sign of Killian and the villains who kidnapped him, Emma finally stopped looking around her upon seeing Aramis leaning over her with his hand stretched out to her so he could help her stand. At first, she could only stare up at him with suspicion, while the Musketeer saw the worry in her eyes he knew she was no doubt feeling for her husband they had witnessed being taken prisoner moments earlier.

Athos then stepped forward after he and his brothers sheathed their swords, and reached his hands out to both Regina and Zelena to help them as well, while Porthos then walked over and also helped David to his feet, then finally Emma accepted Aramis' kindness until they were at last standing together without a word spoken between them.

The ladies' man however, finally broke the silence when he spoke gently saying, "No offence, milady… but we believed we wouldn't ever be seeing any of you again. Least of all within our own kingdom and time."

"Yeah, well… us coming here wasn't exactly planned," Emma curtly replied as she brushed off the dirt from her shirt and pants. "Your friend with the eyepatch kidnapped my husband. I damned well wasn't going to stay home while allowing Rochefort and our own enemy to hurt Killian and leave him to be stranded here alone."

"You had to have seen them after they came through the portal before us," Regina stated as she looked between the Musketeers, as did Emma, David, and Zelena. "Where did they go?"

Athos looked at her with remorse and answered, "I'm afraid they were here for only moments… before the man who came over with Rochefort and your husband, used magic to take off somewhere. Before they vanished, Rochefort commanded him to transport them into the forest."

Porthos quickly added, "Unfortunately, the forest is vast. It would take days for us to search for one man. And with one of his abductors having magic…"

"He may have demanded this magical being transport them into the forest for now, most likely to form a plan since Rochefort's been away for as long as we have, but I've no doubt they will eventually make their way to wherever Cardinal Richelieu is," Aramis confidently responded before his closest friend could finish. "And I have a pretty good idea where we can find someone who will know exactly where that is. We just have to try to figure out exactly what moment in our time we came back to."

"I have a better idea," Emma sternly retorted and looked down at her left hand while she sadly pulled off her engagement ring Killian had given to her when he proposed to her both times, then the Savior raised her head again as she looked between her father and Regina, both of whom nodded in agreement upon sensing what she had in mind. "A locator spell. I won't leave Killian alone with these villains any longer than I have to. And we don't just have him to find either. Count Rochefort has the fairy wand that is our only chance to get back home. If we don't find them soon… We have to find them and we can't wait."

The three Musketeers nodded in understanding, then at last offered their services to help their friends find Killian and the magical wand so they could return home, just as these heroes had done for them. They then stood back and watched as Emma held her love's ring given to her on the eve of their engagements to summon a locator spell over it so it would lead them directly to the missing pirate Captain.

Just as Regina could, Emma felt that magic was different in this world and time, so summoning any magic within her at first was difficult. Until at last, when she found the strength within her needed to do so, once again upon hearing her husband's words of love and encouragement within her mind.


	9. Chapter 9

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Nine

Moments later, the Genie's magic suddenly dissipated again once Iago and Count Rochefort reappeared within the middle of the forest along with their prisoner, whom the villains dragged along between them. However, in the moment the man wearing the eyepatch appeared slightly disorientated upon being whisked away by magic, Killian immediately swung around and slammed Rochefort against his head just above his only good eye with the side of his hook to knock him back, then attempted to pull his cutlass from its scabbard as he stepped back a few feet so he could fight his enemy. Unfortunately, Hook's attempt to escape failed, when Iago easily made his sword vanish, then swiftly magicked the pirate's hook into his hands, leaving Hook without a weapon to defend himself with or to fight against them with.

And before Killian saw it coming, the Genie used his magic once more to blast him back roughly against the tree behind him, then manipulated its roots, as they swiftly wrapped themselves around Killian's right wrist, arms, ankles, and his chest in order to bind him so he couldn't try anything else.

While the hero struggled to break free from the roots, Rochefort looked up at his prisoner haughtily and then stated callously, "Escape is a foolish notion, my friend."

The Captain glared down at him while he continued to struggle, then Killian retorted angrily, "You are no friend of mine. Why the hell have you done this?! Why abduct any one of us? You had the bloody wand like you wanted. What good am I to you as your prisoner?"

The former Musketeer turned villain sneered as he responded, "At first… you were nothing more than easy leverage. So that I could steal the wand and so I had a way to keep the heroes from stopping me from passing through the portal. Iago here told me how protective of you your precious Savior is. And today I saw it to be true. I've no doubt that she and some of the others will have followed us through so they can save you. But you're more than leverage to me now, Captain. Because I realize that the story behind where I have been all these years is quite the tale. One that no one here, including those I serve, would ever believe. Unless of course… I have proof. Which you are."

"And why is that?" Hook questioned him again, watching as Rochefort reached over to take his hook from the Genie's hands. "I assure you, I'm not the first person to have ever worn such an implement in place of a missing limb. And I'm not that much younger than you myself. I am no more from the twenty-first century than you."

"And yet you wear the clothes from that world, and you possess one of those phone devices which everyone from Storybrooke uses to communicate with one another," Iago continued for his new master smugly, then used his magic once more to pull Killian's cell phone from his back pants' pocket and looked down on it to study it. "This alone would convince at least some of those here that you aren't from this time."

The Count reached over to take the phone from him as well, then studied it for a moment too before he finally looked back up at Killian again while he commanded the Genie again, "It's alright to release him, Iago. And to give him back the piece of metal he wears for a hand. Just see to it that his hook and wrists are bound tightly so he cannot attempt to use it to hurt us with, or in another poor attempt to escape."

The magical being didn't hesitate to do as he was commanded to do, as he loosened the roots from around their prisoner's body, causing Hook to fall roughly against the ground, then once he struggled to stand back on his feet, Iago magically restored his hook to its brace and swiftly bound it firmly to Killian's open palm with roots ripped away from the tree.

Once the pirate was secured, Iago turned to Rochefort again while he spoke crossly saying, "You promised me back in Storybrooke, that once I help you to escape from their world and we returned to yours, that you would set me free with a single wish. I have done all that you have asked of me. Now you must honor your agreement and do as I ask of you."

"Take it from a former villain who has both betrayed and been betrayed by other villains of whom I have aligned myself with… there is no honor among us," Hook said coldly to the Genie after Rochefort at first didn't reply. "If you truly expected Rochefort here to free you in exchange for your services, then you're an even bigger fool than I took you for. I have made plenty of promises where I have gone back on my word because keeping them served no purpose to me, and I too have been betrayed after forging alliances with those who cannot be trusted. And I've always regretted it."

While he spoke of the betrayals in his past, Killian couldn't help but think back to the night after he finally managed to climb all the way down from the beanstalk he and Emma had climbed earlier that day, after he had been betrayed not only by the woman who was now his wife because of the man he used to be then, but also by Cora, who he had aligned himself with before he and Emma ever met.

Some time ago, within the Enchanted Forest…

_"__My dear Captain," the evil sorceress spoke to him snidely once Hook at last dropped to the ground with his back to Cora, after the giant on top of the beanstalk finally set him free to climb down. "It seems you've been on quite an adventure."_

_ She then reached out her hand to him to ask for that which was the reason for his climb up the beanstalk to begin with, as she continued, "The compass, please."_

_ Hook leisurely turned around to face the powerful villain while he responded out of frustration and a misplaced sense of glee for making it impossible for Cora to get her hands on the compass as well, "Yes, that. Well… Matters grew complicated. It's eluded me for the moment. The details of the affair are a bit of a bore."_

_ "Really?" she coldly replied, despite the smile she offered the pirate when he finally looked at her and gentleness in her voice as she spoke. "Stealing my protection spell and climbing the beanstalk without me might seem like a bore to you. But to me, it's a betrayal."_

_ "I was going to bring it to you," the Captain answered darkly, as he kept his eyes on her firmly to assure her he was speaking the truth and had every intention of keeping his word. "Our agreement remains. We are going to Storybrooke together. I'll get it back."_

_ Cora shook her head in disbelief, then she responded crossly, "I don't have time for your games. I've crossed through too many worlds to be brought short at the brink of success. Who was it who bested you?"_

_ With deeper frustration, he firmly replied, "The Swan girl… Emma. Rest assured, it won't happen again."_

_ Unfortunately for Hook, Cora just laughed at his assurances to her and then she retorted threateningly, "No, it won't. You chose her. And the consequences of that decision."_

_ "Oh… Are you going to kill me now?" Hook snidely asked upon sensing her threat, then his temperament grew cold once more. "Go ahead. Try."_

_ "So brave," she cruelly answered him with a smile. "No, I'm not going to kill you. I have something far more satisfying in mind. I'm going to leave you here with your thirst for revenge unquenched, while I complete our journey without you."_

_ Upon sensing that her punishment for his betrayal was worse than death like he was expecting from her, Hook slowly moved in closer to her while he agitatedly responded, "There's no need to be rash. We can… Discuss this."_

_ However, Cora replied darkly, "Your pretty face buys you a lot, but not my time. It's too valuable."_

_ "I can do this," he assuredly answered her once again in plea, hoping it was enough for her to change her mind. "I can get it back. You need me."_

_ "No, I don't," she responded with another laugh, then stepped away from him while still holding tightly to her umbrella to avoid getting wet in the rain. "You've had your chance. Now it's my turn to do this… the right way."_

_ All of a sudden, Hook immediately lunged towards Cora out of anger in an attempt to strike her down with his hook, but unfortunately, she disappeared within a puff of purple smoke that faded away with her just as quickly as she summoned it around her, and simply Hook fell to the ground after being defeated and left behind without an ally to help him gain his revenge._

Back in the present…

Killian was pulled from his thoughts again when the villain wearing the eyepatch over his left eye finally spoke to his ally again as he snidely replied, "I'm afraid the pirate is right, Iago. I never had any intention of freeing you. The moment I learned about your powers through those people in Storybrooke, I knew I could convince you to help me in my endeavors so long as I promised you your freedom from your lamp. And you made it all too easy for me. But your magic still has its uses. Even here in my world. I won't be giving you up just yet. And because I am in possession of your lamp, you have no choice but to obey my commands. Now… it's time we get moving. We've a long walk ahead of us and I would like to get to where my friend should once again be waiting for me to meet with him. Be sure to guard our prisoner."

The Genie nodded to his master in defeat, then he turned to Hook and began to pull him along beside him once he followed after Count Rochefort while they made their way deeper into the forest, as the pirate Captain quietly spoke again to Iago saying, "It's as I thought. I'm not the only one of us who is a prisoner. You had the chance at a better life in Storybrooke, as a free man. You should have trusted the Savior and Regina to keep their word that the magic dampening cuff would eventually be removed and that the heroes would have found a way to free you from your lamp in time, if you just proved yourself to be of no threat to us. This is the consequence of your own misguided belief in who can help you. I am sorry."


	10. Chapter 10

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Ten

Count Rochefort, Iago, and Killian continued to walk in silence to somewhere only the man wearing an eyepatch knew about. The Genie didn't speak up out of dread of being reprimanded, even punished further than he already had been simply for being naïve enough to trust in the Count's word to free him. Killian on the other hand, didn't talk in the hope that his captors would, and reveal some information that could give him a clue as to where they were headed, or what the villain's plans were, especially for him.

However, when Rochefort finally did begin talking an hour after they had begun their journey as Iago questioned his master on exactly what was on Killian's mind, what the pirate Captain overheard wasn't what he expected, nor was it good. Yet Killian remained silent while he pretended to be lost in his own thoughts so that his captors with any luck, wouldn't suspect he was paying much attention to them, and until Killian could find a way to escape from them that was smarter than simply trying to put up another fight like he had before.

Killian knew that in order for any plan he could come up with to work, he would need to distract the magical being still dragging him along beside him enough so that Iago wouldn't be able to use his magic against him straightaway like he had when he conjured the tree's roots to bind him. A feat that was easier thought than actually done. All Killian knew, was that he wasn't going to allow his captors to bring him to wherever it was they planned to. Certainly not to some brig, or to this corrupt King and Cardinal the Musketeers had told him and his friends about.

At last, they came upon a dangerous pass alongside a cliff which overlooked a raging river down below. Killian could see that horses and even carriages could make their way through the pass, but that the risks would be even greater. A reason for which he was grateful they were currently traveling on foot.

Once they started making their way through the pass, the pirate suddenly stopped walking and collapsed to one knee as if something was wrong, although he made no pretense to try to convince them he was in pain. Hook simply dropped, then waited with his head low and his body hunched over until Rochefort or Iago attempted to make him stand again, while he cautiously reached inside his left boot despite his hook being bound to his hand. It wasn't easy, but feasible.

Then, in just the right moment as Iago bent down to grab the prisoner by his arm and the lapels of his leather jacket to pull him back to his feet, Hook swiftly plunged the small blade deep into the Genie's chest, knowing that so long as he was cursed to remain a prisoner to his lamp, the magical being would be just fine once he healed himself. And just before the Count even had the chance to pull his sword or musket from his belt, Hook pulled his dagger from his other captor's chest and swiftly slashed Rochefort across his right cheek with it.

Finally, Killian ran to the edge of the cliff while the villains screamed out in pain and anger as they struggled to stifle the blood flowing from their wounds after having been unexpectedly attacked, and without hesitation, the pirate swiftly jumped off into the raging waters of the river below to escape from them once and for all.

"Get him back!" the villain wearing the eyepatch screamed at Iago in anger as they ran to the edge of the cliff as well and looked down into the waters looking for any sign of their prisoner. "You have magic, so do something. I want him found!"

"If he survives the river's rapids despite him being bound, then you're gonna have to make a wish if you want me to get him back," Iago answered his master with reluctance when he turned his head to look over at him. "However, the chances that he survived…"

The anger within Rochefort's eyes once the Count stopped looking below to face him as well, told the Genie that he was in no mood to hear excuses, so he quit talking, then Rochefort breathed in and out to calm his rage before he finally replied, "Fine. The pirate no longer matters then. I may want his head for his attack against me, but I suppose what he and those heroes of Storybrooke call a cell phone might be enough to prove to our King of where I have been. And you will help me to prove it. But first… we need to continue to make our way to see Cardinal Richelieu and the Duke of Savoy at the Duke's camp where I suspect they both ought to be. I have business with them that cannot wait. We will keep moving on."

The Genie nodded and then he responded, "Of course, My Lord. Onward to see the Duke of Savoy then."

Meanwhile…

Emma continued to follow the bright glow within the stone of her engagement ring in silence as it was leading her to her husband once she cast the locator spell over it to help her find him, like Rumplestiltskin had once enchanted her father's mother's ring for David to help him find Snow White when she had taken a bite from the Evil Queen's poison apple a long time ago.

Those who had followed the Savior through the time portal to help her save Killian, as well as the Musketeers, continued to follow behind Emma in hope that they would be able to find their friend, as well as the Black Fairy's wand so that those from Storybrooke too would eventually be able to return home.

"We should head back into the city where we can speak with our Captain," Athos at last stated some time later, after what felt like hours since anyone within the troupe had hardly spoken, at least in regards to their plans to find their missing friend and the wand. "He'll be able to help us find Count Rochefort again. We haven't been home for centuries and we're still not sure exactly when we've come home to. We thought of the moment just before we passed through the portal to the Land of Untold Stories, but…"

"We're looking for Hook, not the villain who took him," David retorted, as he turned his head to look towards the soldiers walking along with them. "If there's one thing I know about my son in law, it's that he's resourceful and there's no way he'll allow himself to remain anyone's prisoner so long as he can help it. The chances that he's still with your enemy and the Genie who helped Rochefort kidnap him are slim. But it doesn't mean he's not still in trouble."

Emma spoke again as well as she replied, "Dad's right. We need to find Killian. Right now, he's all I care about. Once we do that, then we'll worry about finding the wand again as well."

Aramis then responded assuredly, "And we will find him, milady. I've seen enough magic back in your world to believe that this… locator spell on that ring you spoke of, will track him through whatever terrain the Count and his ally have traveled."

"This spell hasn't ever let me down yet," she answered softly, when she turned her head to look over at the Musketeer with more charm than the other two possessed. "At least not completely. They've gone wonky at times, but that's usually because there were magical circumstances working against us to try to prevent us from finding whoever, or whatever we were seeking out."

"Even though we have seen magic with our own eyes, it's still difficult for us to believe it really does exist," Aramis replied again while he looked down at the ring again, then it suddenly began to glow even brighter than it was seconds ago, causing everyone to suddenly stop where they stood on the road just as they started walking along the road within a cliff overlooking the river beneath it. "Is that supposed to happen?"

Porthos stepped out ahead of his friend and the Savior as he gently grabbed hold of her shoulder to back her away from the edge when she started to look down, then he spoke worryingly saying, "Be careful, milady. We're coming up on a dangerous pass above this river and the ground isn't always sturdy. We should be safe…"

However, Emma interrupted him once she cautiously walked on ahead of where they all stopped only to find that the light from the spell swiftly faded the further away from the others she went. So, she stepped back again until the glow brightened once more, then she began to look all around her for signs of Killian, fearing that something within her spell might have gone wrong, or worse… that the glow was fading as she walked further ahead because the man she loved had fallen or was pushed into the river below.

David on the other hand, studied the glow of the ring as she moved around, then he reached out to grab hold of his daughter's wrist and he held her hand out in front of them while he said anxiously, "The glow gets brighter whenever you turn more east. He's close, but the question is… where?"

"Is there a passage nearby that leads down to the bottom of this cliff, rather than simply forward?" Zelena questioned as she and Regina looked over at the Musketeers again. "If the pirate is nearby, then he's down there somewhere and not up here."

"There isn't any passage," Athos responded and carefully moved between those surrounding him to step out closer to where Emma and David were standing. "If any of us are going to try to get down there… That is you're absolutely certain that ring is really leading you to where your husband is, then we'll have to climb down. The problem is, we don't have any rope with us."

Regina raised her hands out as she answered confidently, "We won't need rope. Not when some of us have magic to help us."

She then began to conjure enough magic to help her move one of the larger boulders from within the waters beneath the cliff, and called out to Emma as she added, "Follow my lead. There isn't a shore around so once you're sturdy on your own rock, stand still and don't fall off even once we get down there. I've seen you use your power to float back up on the pieces of the broken bridge when I taught you how to strengthen your magic, Emma. This will be the same concept. Just with large rocks and not pieces of wood."

"This is crazy," Emma grumbled nervously, then followed Regina's lead as another boulder from the river rose up in front of her, and together they slowly lowered themselves back down towards the raging waters upon the rocks while the two of them searched the water, other rocks, and any cliff ledges for Hook.

"Regina… there he is!" the Savior suddenly shouted out moments later, when at last she found her husband lying unconscious upon a large tree trunk that had fallen out over the river after it had appeared to have been either cut down or struck down by lightening in a storm some time ago. "Killian?! Killian!"

When Emma and Regina finally made their way over to him, the Savior carefully knelt down on top of her boulder so she could reach out and turned him over onto his back as she gently struggled to wake him, while the Queen saw his injuries caused most likely by him hitting the rocks within the river as it surged him forward, then she whispered to Emma worryingly saying, "We'll have to heal him first, Emma. He's hurt. His shoulder is clearly dislocated, he's got a large gash over his right temple, and worse… I'm amazed he was able to pull himself up onto this tree, especially with his hand and hook bound together like they are."

While her friend was talking and worked to untie his bindings, Emma laid her hands out over Killian's head and chest as she carefully began to heal him. Unfortunately, it took more time than Emma would have liked to help the man she loved because like before, healing his injuries took more strength than the power needed to move objects like she and Regina had done with the boulders they were on, since summoning any magic in this world was still more difficult.

At last, the Savior was able to heal the gash over her husband's temple just enough to be able to wake him and he slowly began to come to, then once he saw her leaning over him, Killian whispered, "Emma? You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't… You shouldn't have followed after me. The wand…"

"I wasn't going to let that bastard take you away from me, no matter what the risks are in coming here after you," she sadly replied as she laid her hand tenderly against his right cheek and then raised her head to look back up at Regina despite continuing to talk to him. "We're going to get you away from this river and back to where Dad, Zelena, and the Musketeers are all waiting for us."

"We can finish trying to heal you the rest of the way once we get back to someplace less dangerous," Regina finally stated and carefully helped Emma to lift Killian away from the fallen tree, then together, all three of them steadied themselves again on the boulders that the women floated down on from the cliff above once Killian stood with Emma, until at last, they ascended to return to the others.

When they finally reached them, both David and Aramis carefully helped Killian back onto the pass, then gently sat him down on the ground behind them against the cliff wall. Aramis then helped Regina back onto firm ground as well, while David helped his daughter. And once the women with magic were safe back on the land, their magic released the boulders, causing them to crash back down into the river below.

Emma raced over to Killian's side once more and immediately hugged him out of relief now that he was back with her. David then started to pull off his jacket so he could give it to his son to help warm him up, until Aramis stopped him as he kindly pulled off his own tunic instead so it could act as a blanket, then wrapped it around Killian's shoulders. At last, the Savior raised her hands again to continue to try to heal him, as Killian finally spoke again so he could explain to his loved ones and friends why he had escaped from Count Rochefort and the Genie.

Once his shoulder was put back into place, Killian looked up into Emma's eyes while he said quietly, "I had to escape. I couldn't remain their prisoner, because I knew you had come through the portal to find me. You shouldn't have, but I'm grateful you did, Swan."

He then raised his head to look between the Musketeers and continued, "Your enemy with the eyepatch… spoke of a friend. Someone he called, the Duke of… Savoy. They are planning to find him. I'm afraid they didn't say where, other than that they believed he would be found in his camp. I saw a chance to escape, so I took it. It might not have been the smartest thing to do, but…"

"I'd say you're very lucky to have survived jumping into the river like that," Zelena retorted as she looked up at the cliff behind her, then down into the river.

The Savior finished healing him at last by the time he finished speaking, then she looked into his eyes again while she responded, "Don't worry… we'll find them. We can get the wand back. The Musketeers are helping us so we can get back home, just as we did for them. They have friends in this world who can help us find Rochefort and Iago again."

"There's more," Hook then continued apprehensively, when he turned his head to look again between Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. "Your friend whom Rochefort claimed to have been killed… the friend you've come here in this time to try to save… He's still alive. He was never killed like your enemy claimed. Rochefort abducted your friend with help from the King, upon the King no longer trusting in your friend to protect him despite his loyalty to him. Rochefort wanted you to believe he was dead so you would find the motivation needed to get you to return to your world and time. Last I heard, was that your friend was brought to this… Duke of Savoy whom he and that Genie are on their way to see now. We ought to find your friend and the fairy's wand, so long as we can find where this Duke is camped."

"Then… now that we have found you, we'll head into the city to find our Captain, who will be able to help us find Rochefort," Athos spoke again with confidence, as he looked between Killian and the rest of the heroes. "I assure you, he's a good man and the best of all the Musketeers. Thank you for letting us know that our friend is alive, Captain. We'll finally be together again. And at last we'll bring Rochefort down. With your help, my friends… I do believe we can. It's high time our story plays out like it should have a long time ago."


	11. Chapter 11

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Eleven

At last, Count Rochefort and Iago arrived on the hills just above the Duke of Savoy's camp, and looked down upon it as they watched the workers within the quarry mining the rocks for as far as the Genie could tell to be nothing but iron from their current viewpoint high above them, while others worked over forges to melt down iron to create a vast amount of weapons for the Duke and his army of soldiers who also stood throughout the camp keeping their eyes on the men working.

Iago raised his head to look over at the man standing beside him, then he asked, "What are all of those weapons for? Is there a war going on?"

The villain wearing an eyepatch smiled and then he replied, "Not yet. But there soon will be. In about a week's time, the Duke of Buckingham will be coming here to Paris on our King's invitation, seeking to sign a peace treaty. That is, if we have indeed returned to when I believe we have. However, King Louis and the Cardinal have plans to start a war against the man instead so that we will soon take over their own part of the world as well. The Duke of Buckingham will either die in battle, or he will be forced to sign his land over to King Louis and then be granted safe passage from France should he make the right choice."

"And I'm guessing this is why you had to convince the King to disband the Musketeers so that they wouldn't be around any longer to interfere in your plans?" the Genie haughtily responded, knowing full well that the Count's answer would be yes.

"Most of the men who were once Musketeers won't be a problem," Rochefort coldly answered without taking his eyes off of the men working down below. "However, the three who are after us now will be, especially once they most likely come to learn of their friend still being alive, no thanks to you for allowing our prisoner to escape… if the pirate even survived that fall into the river. Something tells me he has. But none of that matters at the moment. Iago… you are to return to inside your lamp. When I have need of you, I will call upon you. Now do as I command you. Is this understood?"

The man from Agrabah and prisoner of the lamp that was still concealed within the villain's dark attire, stared at him with disdain, then complied with a simple bow of his head before he swiftly disappeared within a vapor of black smoke that blew through the air, until it vanished upon entering the lamp through its spout.

Rochefort then left the edge of the hill on which he was standing, and made his way down into the camp at last, where he expected to find the Duke of Savoy, and hoped he would find Cardinal Richelieu as well, provided that the Musketeers had brought them back to their world at the time just before they all passed through the portal which brought them to the Land of Untold Stories for the centuries they had remained trapped for.

When he finally reached the large tent set up within the center of the camp, he was about to enter, until one of the tent's flaps opened as the Cardinal stepped outside, followed closely by the Duke of Savoy, then upon seeing the man who fought for him standing before him, Richelieu smiled as he stated, "At last, my friend… you have returned. Were you successful in capturing those three who are still a threat to our plans?"

Once Rochefort stood again, after having knelt down before the Cardinal on one knee to bow before him to show his continued loyalty and respect, the villain replied regretfully, "I'm afraid circumstances arose that I wasn't counting on, nor could I have expected what was to come. And unfortunately, Athos, Aramis, and Porthos are still free men. May we go inside and talk… so that we're not so out in the open? What I have to tell you will be quite difficult, if not impossible for you to understand without what I hope will be all the proof I need in order to show you that what I am about to speak is true."

"Whatever it is you have to say, Rochefort, you know that I trust you," the corrupt Cardinal responded to him with assurance once they and the Duke walked back inside the tent and then sat down at the table centered within. "What are these circumstances you believe to be so impossible to explain?"

At last, without revealing the lamp or summoning the Genie within it to show his closest friend and the Duke proof of the magic that truly exists throughout the world and time, Count Rochefort explained all that he could, from the moment he followed the Musketeers through the portal that brought them to the Land of Untold Stories, to when they arrived in a magical town known as Storybrooke, and until he finally made it back home to his own world and time no more than several hours ago.

By the time he finally finished his tale, the Duke of Savoy suddenly began to laugh when he quite apparently didn't believe a word Rochefort had just spoken to them. He poured himself a drink of his best wine, as well as one for the man wearing an eyepatch, and the Cardinal, then he stood up to leave the tent again so he could check on the progress of the workers through his men standing guard.

Once the Duke was gone, Richelieu took a sip of his own wine when he picked up the goblet from the table to do so, then he turned back to his old friend as he asked quietly, "I didn't really expect the Duke to believe anything you just explained to us, but I have known you a very long time, Rochefort. And from the dark look in your eyes, as well as seeing how much older you appear to look from when I supposedly saw you just this morning… everything you just told us is somehow true. Isn't it?"

"Yes, Your Eminence," Rochefort answered and at last, he pulled out the pirate's cell phone he had stolen from him not long after they arrived back within Seventeenth Century France, then held it out for his friend to observe while he showed the Cardinal its power by pushing buttons on the screen, even though it wouldn't work to communicate with anyone else who possessed another such object without the towers that existed only within the modern day world. "The prisoner who escaped on the road possessed this device, used to communicate by all of those from his world that I was trapped in. It looks like magic, but I don't believe it is."

"It's remarkable," the man claiming to be a man of God replied in awe, as he reached out to touch the phone, then took it from his friend so he could study it closer. "Do you have more proof of this… magic you say comes from this world?"

The Count smiled again as he reached into his jacket again and pulled out the Black Fairy's wand, then he responded, "I stole this away from one of the other self-proclaimed heroes who surely followed me here through the portal to rescue the pirate and to take this back. It too possesses magic. However, I've been unable to use it thus far. Perhaps only those who possess magic can use it. I have one more possession I stole from their world, and perhaps the being connected to it might just be able to help us gain far more than we ever dreamed of."

Cardinal Richelieu stepped towards his old friend and laid his hand over the Count's shoulder as he whispered, "You have done well, my friend. But we mustn't reveal anything more just now. Not while we are in the company of the Duke and our soldiers. For now… return to the city with this possession of yours. And do all you can to find these so called heroes you believe may be coming after you. Stop them, and the Musketeers. I'll hold onto this wand, then meet you in our sanctuary tomorrow evening where you can reveal this being to me. There's still much work to be done here and I must oversee it for a little while longer."

"Before you leave, tell me… Do the Musketeers know their friend d'Artagnan is still alive?" Richelieu then questioned Rochefort once more as the man wearing the eyepatch turned to leave the tent.

"I believe they do," the Count coldly answered. "Don't worry… they won't find him or discover this camp. I will see to it that they don't."


	12. Chapter 12

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Twelve

Meanwhile, within the city of Paris…

The Musketeers and the heroes from Storybrooke who followed behind them, cautiously made their way through the streets of the city. While the soldiers haven't seen their home for centuries, nothing throughout their beloved city that they have fought so hard to protect from those who corrupt it had changed, because they truly had returned home to the same time from which they disappeared. It was as wonderful for them, just as it was strange and almost frightening like being trapped in this old world was for those from the twenty-first century.

"Athos?" a woman's voice suddenly called out to the Musketeers' leader in a hushed tone from behind them, causing everyone to turn around until the soldiers finally came face to face with someone they could trust, and whom they couldn't be happier to see as she stood within the doorway of her home.

"Come inside quickly, before any of the Red Guards come down this street and catch you three on the streets wearing your uniforms," she immediately spoke again more firmly, as she swiftly motioned for her friends and the strangers to her with them to come inside. "What are you even doing back in Paris? We thought you ran. You should have."

Athos looked into the eyes of the woman now standing in front of him and reached out to lay his hands gently over her arms while he responded sadly, "I'm afraid we did… for quite awhile, but we've come home. Constance… you look as beautiful as you always did. It's so good to see you again."

He then suddenly embraced her, as did Aramis and Porthos while the woman between them stared off in confusion and then she uttered, "I only saw you just three day ago. What's going on? And who are your friends?"

"I'd like to know the answers to her questions as well, gentlemen," a man then spoke sternly to the Musketeers when he stepped out into the kitchen area from another room of the home upon hearing the familiar voices he didn't expect to hear again for some time.

"Captain Treville… Sir, it's a long story," Aramis answered for Athos before he could do so, as the leader suddenly became overwhelmed with guilt for having left at all. "And it's good to see you again too, Sir. But before we start to explain… We have to introduce our friends here."

Porthos turned to their new friends from Storybrooke while he pointed to those he spoke of as he continued for his closest friend, "Captain… this is Her Majesty, Queen Regina Mills and her sister, Zelena. Sheriff Emma Jones and her husband, Killian Jones. And Prince David. They are from a far away land known as Storybrooke."

Charming then stated, "You don't have to address any of us so formally. You can just call me David."

"And you can just call me Regina," the former Evil Queen added as well. "I hardly ever go by Your Majesty any longer."

"My friends, we would like you to meet our Captain… Captain Treville, and our friend d'Artagnan's beautiful wife, Constance," Aramis finished. "We trust them with our lives. And I assure you, you can as well."

David smiled between Treville and Constance, then as he reached out to shake the Captain's hand, he replied, "I have no doubt. Your men have spoken highly of you, Sir. It's an honor to meet you. To meet you both."

Constance nodded as she responded, "And you. But please… could someone explain why it is you have returned? After what happened to d'Artagnan…"

"I really wish you men would explain," Treville stated again before either of the Musketeers could comfort their friend's wife and assure her that her husband may still be very much alive. "I gave you three explicit instructions to leave Paris, due to the fact that you're all now wanted men. Should any of the Red Guards catch you here…"

"Captain… we did leave Paris," Aramis answered the man who trained and led them all with resolve, looking between him, Constance, and the heroes while he spoke. "And we came to find ourselves in a strange new land, then we eventually came to meet our friends here, in anther strange land."

Treville looked at the strangers among them skeptically as he stated, "Your friends from this land you called, Storybrooke?"

Athos nodded, then he continued, "It's as we said, Captain… It's a long story. And we can finish explaining everything later, but for now… I assure you that they are good people. It is because of them that we have finally learned with a certainty that the Duke of Savoy is a traitor to our country as we have long suspected."

"And also… that d'Artagnan may still be very much alive," the leader then added with firm resolution once he turned his head to look again at Constance.

"King Louis declared d'Artagnan a traitor and had him killed two days ago despite my husband's undying loyalty to the King," she sadly, as well as coldly replied to him. "I didn't think any of you knew, since I couldn't send word to you when I learned he died. Don't give me false hope if you have any doubt that what you have somehow learned is really true."

Porthos then glanced towards Killian before he turned back to Constance and Treville once again, and responded assuredly, "One of our friends was briefly Rochefort's prisoner. It's why the others came afterwards to rescue him. And in the time he was with Rochefort, he overheard that traitor speak of a meeting with the Duke of Savoy, and of d'Artagnan being held prisoner within the Duke's camp."

Aramis then continued for his friend saying, "Thankfully, Killian was able to escape from Rochefort so he could tell us of this news. Sir… and Constance… Not only do we know that d'Artagnan is alive, but it is because of our friends here that we were able to find our way home again, after we were trapped in the strange worlds we were in for a very, very long time. I assure you, you can trust their word just as we do. D'Artagnan is alive and we can save him. We just have to find the Duke of Savoy's camp and come up with a plan to get him out."

"You're truly certain my husband is alive?" Constance then questioned Killian pleadingly when she moved from where she had been leaning against the wall within her home until she was standing in front of the pirate in front of her, as she glanced down at his hook with worry upon seeing him wearing it in place of his left hand.

"I am certain of what I heard, love," Killian softly answered her once he too looked down at his hook, before apprehensively placing it behind his back in order to avoid it being looked at out of fear or distrust any further. "But I fear I don't know if what the villain said was true. Yet I believe your husband must be alive. From what we've seen from your husband's compatriots, it is that they have survived much, they are strong, and they are nobly brave to be able to return home in order to face the injustice going on here in your world despite the risks to their lives. If your husband is one of their brothers in arms, then he must be as they are. And after meeting you as well… surely d'Artagnan is still fighting to get back home to you as well. True loves never stop fighting for one another."

Upon hearing her own husband's words, she turned her head to look over at him while she reached down to take his hand into one of her own and gently squeezed it as she smiled at him, and he at her, then Captain Treville looked between each of the heroes before he finally spoke again confidently saying, "If Athos, Aramis, and Porthos truly trust in you, then so do I. I do not know where the Duke of Savoy is camped. Nor did I even know he was no longer in Savoy. News of him being anywhere close to Paris has not come to me. However, thankfully I do happen to know where we can find someone who should know where his Lord might be. Right in the Bastille where he belongs. Tonight… when the sun goes down, we can all go and speak with him under cover of the dark. That way, we can hopefully avoid being seen. I can get us inside."

Aramis looked at his Captain as he questioned, "You mean Gontard?"

"The Duke's most loyal soldier, until we arrested him after he attempted and failed to kill the Duke of Buckingham on his last visit to Paris," Athos quickly explained for those from Storybrooke. "We suspected that the Duke of Savoy had given Gontard the order to kill Buckingham, but we could never prove it. And we've suspected the Duke of Savoy has been a traitor ever since."

"With the right push, Gontard will tell us what we need to know," Captain Treville then replied again with confidence. "In the meantime… all of you can finish telling Constance and I this story of yours."

Constance smiled at the Captain, then looked between the Musketeers and their new friends as she responded, "I will make us all something to eat then."

Once night had fallen that same evening…

The Musketeers, their Captain, and most of the heroes except for Zelena, who stayed with Constance in her home while the others were gone, all carefully made their way through the city on horseback towards the Bastille so they could interrogate the prisoner there for information on the Duke of Savoy's whereabouts. Thankfully, they had no trouble getting inside the prison and sneaking down to the cells. And just as Treville hoped, with the right push, they were able to learn the whereabouts of the Duke's camp, as well as his reasons for leaving Savoy to camp out somewhere within the forest. And with such information, they learned more than they ever expected from the Duke's former soldier.

Once they left the Bastille again, Porthos glared down at the ground as he grumbled angrily, "The Duke's camp is a slave camp. The King had Count Rochefort throw d'Artagnan into a slave camp!"

"Take it easy, my friend," Aramis calmly answered to him in order to keep him from shouting so that they wouldn't be heard or seen by any onlookers who could still be loyal to the King and the rest of the traitors throughout the city, while Killian, more so than the rest of those who came after him, looked away out of remorse, then he closed his eyes upon the thoughts of his own time trapped as a slave seeped into his mind. "We will find him and break him out. But we can't do so in haste or in anger. We have to come up with a smart plan."

"Aramis is right," Athos firmly replied in agreement to his friend's plea to calm Porthos down.

Regina turned her head to look between the Musketeers as she responded, "We should head back to Constance's home where she and my sister are waiting for us. We can come up with a way to save your friend there, as well as to a way to find the wand."

With this said, after the Musketeers agreed to Regina's suggestion knowing it was their best course of action, they all turned as they were about to return to her home. However, it was in that moment, when two men within the Red Guard suddenly appeared around the corner down the street in front of them, and quickly shouted out at the Musketeers and the heroes to stop.

Now, the men under his charge and the heroes from Storybrooke had explained to Treville that magic is what allowed for them to travel through time so the Musketeers could find their home again. However, upon seeing it for the first time with his own eyes when the former Evil Queen swiftly discharged a blast of her magic from the palms of her hands to render the soldiers unconscious, the Captain almost couldn't believe what he saw.

When both Porthos and Aramis immediately rushed forward to grab their enemies so they could drag them off the street, Athos looked over at Regina as he then asked, "What did you do to them? Are they…?"

"They're not dead," she quickly answered upon sensing what he was trying to ask. "Just unconscious and they should be for quite awhile. You don't want them to interfere? Now they won't. But I suggest we lock them up down in one of the deepest, darkest cells inside your prison and one of the guards can find them later. That is… if they even can. What do you say, Captain Treville? It's up to you."

"Do it then," Treville replied, reluctantly agreeing with her idea to lock the soldiers away until they would later be found by more of the soldiers within the Red Guard who routinely patrolled the Bastille by the King's orders, then everyone watched as Regina eventually managed to make them vanish within a purple cloud of smoke, after she strangely struggled to do so like Emma had struggled to summon her power earlier to heal Hook too.

And then, Regina looked between the Savior, Killian, and David while she said with concern, "It's done. They are taken care of for now, but something is definitely going on with our magic. It must be this world. Whatever the reason… we have to be careful with how much we use it. Or you might not have enough magic to get us home again, Emma."

Aramis then spoke up again after he thought up an idea on how they could save their friend within the slave camp, as he stated, "I know how we can enter the camp. It could be tricky, especially if the Cardinal is there with the Duke, but I still think we can pull it off. He knows who we are, but he hardly knows our faces. He always sent Rochefort after us and if we take care of him first somehow… D'Artagnan's and Treville's faces are the only ones the Cardinal really knew because our friend guarded over King Louis, and Treville is the Captain of the Musketeers. One of us can pose as a slave, while others can act as the task master and his soldiers looking to sell whoever is the lucky one of us who gets to be slave for a day."

"I doubt it's going to be that simple," Treville apprehensively responded when he looked between Aramis and the rest of his men, while Killian swiftly raised his head and opened his eyes as they immediately grew dark upon hearing the Musketeer's idea to infiltrate the slave camp, and Emma saw his sudden distress, just as she had before when he closed his eyes and turned away from them too, then she looked at the man she loved in worry, especially the moment he suddenly spoke of his disapproval with the plan.

"Because it isn't simple," Killian brusquely retorted while he looked between all those now looking at him with confusion, as well as concern, yet avoided to look over at his wife so he wouldn't have to see her worry for him, or her own disapproval with what he was about to propose. "Not just anyone can simply pretend to be a slave. There are signs a man like this Duke would look for in a slave. We know d'Artagnan wasn't ever a slave, but as a man who owns them, he would know any of you aren't one. And if the Cardinal should recognize you, or… If you want someone to pose as a slave, the only choice you have is me. So long as we succeed in taking Rochefort out of the picture first."

Immediately, the Savior spoke up curtly saying, "No. No… if this is the plan, then let anyone else do this. Forgive me for saying so and for sounding unsympathetic, but this isn't our fight."

When Killian sighed in frustration as he lowered his head, Regina looked at Emma and answered sternly, "Actually… it's as much of our fight now as it is for these Musketeers'. We still have to find the Black Fairy's wand and Rochefort made it our fight the moment he grabbed your husband and forced us to come after him through the portal."

"Why do you think you can pass yourself off as a slave, when the rest of us can't?" Athos questioned the pirate skeptically in reply once he turned to face him again.

"Because I… I've been a… slave," Killian reluctantly responded once he finally lifted his head again to look between the others who were all looking at him except for Emma, who kept her eyes on the ground in front of her out of contempt. "It was a long time ago, but I still have the scars from many lashings to prove so, not to mention the look in a man's eyes who knows how it feels to be worth nothing, but another man's… whipping boy."

David agreed with Emma's sentiments and shook his head while he answered worryingly, "We can't let you risk your life like this, Hook. You're not a slave to anyone. You didn't deserve it back then, and you certainly don't deserve to go through that kind of pain all over again now. There has to be another way we can find the wand and free d'Artagnan."

Killian looked over at him and offered a sad smile, then replied gravely, "We don't have much time to come up with a better plan, mate. I fear there isn't one. As much as I hate to agree with the Musketeers on this, their plan really is our only chance. I do most certainly fear what lies ahead, but…"

"You're a brave man to be willing to sacrifice so much to help us like this, Captain Hook," Aramis responded with deep admiration for this man upon seeing his strength and courage to make such a sacrifice, once their decision to follow through with this plan was set. "If only you were from this world and time. We would be honored to have you fight alongside us as a Musketeer."

"We should get back," Killian worryingly answered the others surrounding him after he watched Emma walk away from him upon struggling to accept what he had to do, then looked to everyone once more. "But give me and Emma a few minutes. I have to try to help her to understand."

When the others walked on ahead of them, David stayed back a moment with his son in law and then whispered, "If anyone can help her understand, it's you. For what it might be worth… You're my son, so I really don't like this idea any more than she does. It's unfair for us to ask you to do this. But I do understand that it's our best chance. Emma will too. Just be gentle with her."

Killian smiled at him sadly and nodded, then he replied, "Thank you, David."

Killian quickly looked over at his father in law once more and without a word, he assured him that Emma would be okay. Then he walked away from everyone as well to follow after the woman he loved, while the others continued on back to where Constance and Zelena remained behind.


	13. Chapter 13

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Thirteen

Meanwhile, back inside Constance's home…

While Constance made herself busy cleaning up and washing the dishes with the water she had collected from the well earlier, after the others left to do what they needed to do to find the Duke's camp, Zelena remained sitting at the table as she studied the woman she could easily see was struggling with the hope that her husband was truly alive. It was a feeling she knew all too well, but under different circumstances. Zelena once held the hope that Hades wasn't the villain everyone warned her against. And sadly, her hope was dashed when it turned out that everyone had been right. The former Wicked Witch could only hope now that for this woman's sake, the others were right to believe d'Artagnan was alive.

At last, Zelena spoke up from behind the woman once Constance finished cleaning the dishes, then stood still without turning around to face the woman she barely knew, as she said gently, "It's hard to trust your own heart that hopes with every ounce of hope you have when your mind is telling you they can't possibly be right. Especially when the news that your husband is still alive, originally came from a complete stranger to you. It's hard even when you love the people telling you. Believe me, I know. The situation was different for me of course, but I do have an idea about what you're feeling right now."

The woman standing before her slowly turned around and studied Zelena for any signs of deception, then she answered, "I do believe you. But yes… it is hard. Not because you're a complete stranger, but because for the last few days, I truly believed d'Artagnan to be dead. And for some reason, I felt it. I know the kind of man King Louis has become and that he has allowed himself to be manipulated by Cardinal Richelieu and Count Rochefort. But Louis' father was a good and just King. And for so long, d'Artagnan and I have held out the hope that Louis could change and become as his father was. That is why we both remained loyal to him all these years even after Athos, Porthos, and Aramis turned their backs. When King Louis told me that my husband was dead because d'Artagnan finally had enough… I couldn't breathe. A part of me died in that moment too. Now… all of a sudden, he is somehow still alive and I don't… If we accomplish finding the Duke's camp and later discover d'Artagnan is still dead, or he dies again in a fight that will inevitably happen… I just don't know if I can bear it."

"I am so sorry," Zelena replied to her with remorse, then reached out to lay her hand on top of Constance's that was already down on the table. "But I assure you, my friends and I… we can help you and the Musketeers find and save your husband. It's what we do. And we even have a Savior with us. It's her destiny to bring back people's happy endings and she fights harder than anyone I know… with the exception of my own sister, to do just that. We'll save him. You'll see."

After a few moments, d'Artagnan's wife simply shook her head to try to shake off her emotion and quickly wiped away the tears in her eyes, then she sat down at the table once again beside the visitor as she asked curiously, "So… have you ever been married? Or in love?"

The former Wicked Witch stared at her for a moment in surprise, until she looked down at her hands still on top of the table while she answered reluctantly, "Actually... yes. I have been in love. Never married, but I've fallen in love and not just once, but twice."

"Twice… yet you were never married?" Constance questioned her. "May I ask why? You don't have to answer of course, if doing so hurts too much."

"It's alright," Zelena softly responded again. "I didn't know the first man I fell in love with very well. I only knew him for a few days, after he saved my life when I had been attacked by another witch. He nursed me back to health over the course of the next few nights. His name was Ivo. However, I messed things up between us. Back then… I wasn't the same woman I am today thanks to my sister and my friends. I was wicked, and I did something awful to Ivo and to his two children. He found out what I really was and he wanted nothing to do with me. I certainly don't blame him of course. Now that is. I hated him for not understanding me back then though. And I only made things much worse. Then… well, I fell in love with another man. And things between us were even more complicated. Far more complicated. I won't go into a lot of detail, but let's just say… he wasn't the man I believed him to be this time. Regina and my friends all warned me he was far more evil than I was wicked, but I didn't trust them enough. I loved this man. And because I failed to see him for who he really was in time, the man my sister loved and father of my daughter was killed by him. That's a long story too, but… In the end, I had to kill my love in order to save my sister when he almost killed her too. It was… horrible."

Constance looked at Zelena with remorse as she replied to her sincerely, "I am so sorry. I shouldn't have pried."

Zelena smiled at her with assurance as she answered, "Like I said… it's really alright. A part of me still hurts when I think of them, but I've come to terms with my losses. Regina has helped me. Like Captain Treville appears to have done for you as well. And the Musketeers. You will be all right too. Especially once d'Artagnan is home with you again."

"Thank you, Zelena," the other woman sincerely responded to her.

Both women smiled, until all of a sudden, the door of Constance's home was kicked in as Count Rochefort swiftly charged inside, followed closely by three more soldiers, who quickly rushed forward to grab hold of both women inside. Zelena and Constance both fought against the men, until they were forced down to the floor on their knees.

"What is the meaning of this?!" the woman of the household angrily cried out to the villain wearing an eyepatch once she raised her head again and glared up at him, as Zelena glared at him as well. "I've broken no laws."

"You are harboring those who are wanted for treason, attempted murder, and other crimes," he replied callously, as Rochefort then pulled a sword from its scabbard that he wore on his side along with his own, that Zelena quickly recognized belonged to Hook. "This woman beside you is one of them. The others no doubt are out plotting against our King and His Eminence, the Cardinal. Where are they, Constance? The Musketeers… I know they've returned and brought with them others like this witch here. I demand to know where they are, or you will be punished severely."

And then, Athos also suddenly appeared in the doorway behind Rochefort followed closely by Porthos, as the men's leader answered coldly, "The only one who's going to be punished here tonight is you, Rochefort."

Without hesitation, Porthos swiftly charged at the other soldiers when they turned their own blades towards him to fight against the brute, while Athos swiftly pulled his musket worn on his belt and aimed it directly between the villain's eyes as he cocked back its hammer. The Count swiftly knocked it away from Athos' hand, then they too clashed swords in battle.

Both soldiers were fairly matched in skill, so neither man faltered as the fight between them continued, until Treville, Aramis, as well as David and Regina, also entered the home. The Captain swiftly pulled his own sword and immediately thrust it against Rochefort's throat to stop him after he moved in behind him to help Athos, then together they held him firmly within their grasp to keep him still. In the meantime, the former Evil Queen raised her hands again in an attempt to conjure enough magic once more to render the rest of the men unconscious just like she had done earlier with the other soldiers outside of the Bastille. However, this time, her magic failed her.

Unfortunately, she failed to see as one of the men who had been fighting against Porthos pulled a musket from his belt when he broke away from the big man momentarily to try to help his leader and fired a single shot that went wide and suddenly struck Regina high in her left shoulder. Porthos angrily knocked the last soldier standing out as he struck him hard over his head with the hilt of his sword, while Zelena immediately stood and ran over to her sister to help her when Regina started to collapse to the floor as well until David caught her, then carefully sat her down.

Zelena looked into Regina's eyes in which she could see her pain from the wound, then she uttered fearfully, "Are you okay? What happened?"

"My power is drained," the former Evil Queen weakly responded while she looked down at her hand she was now holding over the wound in her shoulder to keep from bleeding out too badly. "Don't worry… it's really just a graze."

"Allow me to clean and bandage it for you," Constance eagerly replied to her, then together with Zelena, the two women helped Regina back to her feet and sat her down at the table. "I have done this many times for these men."

Porthos looked between his brothers and their Captain as he stated amusingly, "Well… I guess that takes care of our problem with Rochefort. That was easy."

Aramis smiled at the villain smugly as he agreed saying, "Unexpectedly so, yet thank the Lord."

Porthos and Aramis finally worked to tie up the other three soldiers within the Red Guard, then shoved them all into the small pantry where they could barricade them inside until they could figure out what to do with them. Athos then struck Rochefort over his head to render him unconscious before he and Treville bound his wrists and ankles together as well, then forced him into the pantry with his men. At last, once they were free to talk again, the heroes and Musketeers continued to plan their mission to rescue d'Artagnan while they waited for Emma and Killian to return.


	14. Chapter 14

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Fourteen

Once the others returned to Constance's home, Killian followed after Emma until at last he found her again sitting down on the ground in front of a tree outside of the town in which they found themselves, no thanks to the villain who had forced them through a time portal all over again. Emma had never been to Paris before, but she has seen pictures of it in books and in movies. However, now that she was here, and in a time that was long before any of the heroes' own, she didn't recognize it in the slightest. But what worried her far more, was that her husband would soon be placing himself back into danger in the worst of ways, that would force him to relive what she knew to be the worst years of his life. She couldn't be prouder of him for being so strong, but she was afraid for him.

"Swan… You know it isn't safe out here for us to be on our own for long," Killian quietly said once he stopped when he was standing over her, until he then sat down on the ground beside his wife and reached out to take her hand into his own after she didn't say anything to him in return, or even raised her head to look up at him. "I'm sorry, Emma. Truly I am. For being unable to speak with you about this first, but you know as well as I, that there wasn't time. No plan to enter the slave camp is a good one. But going in posing as a slave, so we can be more free to move around within the camp in order to search for d'Artagnan and the wand… it's the only real choice we have. We need to find the wand in order to steal it back. And if I can help save another man from this kind of life I know all too well… He doesn't deserve to live out the rest of his days in that sort of hell."

"And you don't deserve to relive that same sort of hell you've already had to live through once," the Savior crossly retorted out of frustration, until Killian raised his hand to touch her right cheek, then rested it against the side of her face to try to comfort her, and Emma finally looked deep into her love's eyes, while he looked into hers. "You may not talk about those days much, but you've told me enough for me to know how painful those sixteen or so years were for you. Just this morning when you were telling me your story with that coin of yours. This is wrong, Killian."

Killian looked down sadly and whispered, "You're right. Those years as a slave were among the most painful years of my life. But I survived. So believe me… it's best that I do so again if we're going to have a chance in getting home. It's like I said before… This Duke ought to know what to look for in someone who has been a slave. And should he discover we're trying to deceive him, he will surely kill whoever else is to try to pose as one. I've the scars and the anger to prove I am as I claim to be. I don't want to do this, but I can do it."

Emma shook her head to try to shake off her emotions, especially when tears began to slip from the corners of her eyes, then she looked into his eyes again as she replied sadly, "It isn't fair. You shouldn't have to. You're not a slave anymore, Killian. Least of all to those who know you and love you."

"Hearing you say so… means more to me than you could ever know," he lovingly answered, as he began to wipe her tears away with the gentle touch of his fingers. "Listen… it's because of me that you're all here and that the wand is missing. I never should have allowed Rochefort drag me into that portal. But more than that… this is what's right. You have to let me do this, Swan. I'll be all right."

"You better be," she fearfully responded to him, when at last she understood her husband's pleas and finally agreed he was right, then she took his hand into hers as she held it tightly against her chest over her heart. "Just promise me… Promise me you will only imagine yourself as a slave to be able to pull off this terrible ruse long enough to save the Musketeers' friend and to find the Black Fairy's wand. Or at least where it's hidden so that the rest of us can steal it back from Rochefort, the Cardinal, or the Duke… whoever might have it in their possession when we somehow create a distraction so you and d'Artagnan can escape. Promise you will come back to me. It doesn't matter what you used to be. A slave… pirate… villain… To me, you're a hero. Just as you always have been. You simply lost sight of that for awhile, but you broke through again. You found the man you truly are."

Killian smiled at her and then stated, "Because of you. Without you, I'd still be lost."

Emma sighed, then she replied steadfastly, "Maybe so, but it was you who did all of the hard work. I only helped you to see that you could be more than that man you were when we first met, and I gave you a chance to be a part of something. If you were really a villain at heart, you never would have let me help you find yourself again, and you never would have fallen in love with me. You are no slave. Not to any man. Never again. Don't you ever forget that."

"I won't… if you promise to do one thing for me," he whispered once more. "When this is all over, remind me again of who you see me as. If I'm going to become a slave again, a part of me fears I might begin to believe it as I did all those years ago. If you want me to come back to you, I am going to need your help to remember."

"I promise," she answered him and then leaned in to kiss him.

At last, Killian rose back to his feet, then reached out his hand for her to take again so he could help her to stand. Then together, they walked back to the home where their friends were waiting for them. When they arrived, they were surprised to learn all that had happened while they were talking, especially upon learning that they had captured Count Rochefort, which was necessary if they were going to pull off their plan. Unfortunately, the others had discovered that the wand was no longer on him because he had given it over to the Cardinal. All they found within the villain's clothes, was the Genie from Agrabah once again trapped within his magic lamp. And it was in his lamp where Iago remained so he could no longer be a problem for the heroes.

At last, those from Storybrooke, the Musketeers, and Constance all finished coming up with a solid plan that they could only hope they would succeed in. And by sunrise, everyone arrived upon the hills above the slave camp, then found a place where they could remain hidden from view, while being able to keep their eyes on the sight below them in order to keep watch.

Killian at last turned to the woman he loved again, as Emma also turned to face her husband, who was now wearing nothing more than loose rags similar to the clothing he had worn all those years ago when he was a slave aboard Captain Silver's ship, given to him to wear before they left Constance's home. Both of them knew it was finally time to put their plan into action. The sooner they succeeded in finding d'Artagnan so they could rescue him and find the fairy wand, the sooner this nightmare could end and the heroes would be able to return home at last.

David stood at his son in law's other side as he looked over at Hook and reluctantly questioned him, "Are you sure you want to do this? Because you don't have to. We can come up with another plan."

Killian turned his head to look at him as he responded quietly, "No… I don't want to do this, but there isn't another way. Everything will be alright. I trust in you."

"We will do our parts," Aramis assured the pirate Captain. "Our Captain has left to find as many of our brothers who will be willing to draw their swords once more, despite our disbandment. Once you've found d'Artagnan and the wand, signal us and we'll come charging in."

"It's time then," Killian worryingly uttered, then looked to Emma once more.

When he did so, he unlatched his hook from its brace, then began to struggle to pull off the straps over his shoulders which kept the brace in place over his stub. David helped him from behind, then stepped back so that Killian and his daughter could have another moment alone before he would have to become the slave he once was so many years ago, all over again.

The Savior then looked down at Killian's hand as she took it again into her own and simply held it without saying another word to him, before she finally started to pull off the rings he wore. First, was one of his jeweled rings from his pirating days. However, she froze the moment that she touched his wedding band, wishing for his sake that he could keep it on to give him more strength, which she could sense was faltering within him just a little despite the mask he wore to try to hide his fear from her.

She slowly pulled his wedding ring off his finger, then they turned towards Regina when she approached them and she spoke sternly to the pirate who had become her friend in spite of their dark past saying, "Emma's magic has become weak like mine has. So I'm not sure if this will work. And even if it does, I'm not really sure how long the magic will last. If it does, it will help give you a slight advantage in what you're being asked to do once you're down there. Are you ready?"

Hook simply nodded, then he turned to look over at the Savior, who then reached over to touch her fingers to the back of David's left hand as she struggled to summon her powers once more while thinking of a spell Regina taught her within her mind. It took far longer than it should have, but when Emma finally felt her powers again flowing through her, she then pulled back and reached over to lay her hand gently over the stub in place of Killian's left hand as well so she could continue the spell, until all of a sudden, a brand new hand slowly grew from the tissue of his arm once Emma copied David's own.

When the spell finished, Killian stared down at the unfamiliar limb in awe, then warily willed his fingers to move as he flexed them, almost as though he was afraid of the new hand he knew wasn't his own, especially upon remembering back to when Gold once restored the hand he had cut off two hundred years ago as he became manipulated into thinking his hand was cursed.

He finally looked at Emma when she spoke again softly stating, "My spell seems to be holding, even though my magic is now depleted like Regina's is. If it continues to hold, once this is all over and we get back home, I can restore your hook again if you want it back. This hand is going to take time to adjust to, and then again… you might never get used to it. It's up to you."

"Thank you," Hook replied to her, then at last turned to Athos as well when the Musketeer raised the shackles he brought with them for Killian to wear to help sell all the better that he was a slave, then Athos regretfully worked to lock the cuffs of the shackles over his wrists.

"Thank you, my friend," the leader then sincerely said to the pirate in front of him. "For what it's worth… I am sorry you must make such a sacrifice. But each one of us will forever be grateful to you for being willing to. Especially if we succeed in rescuing d'Artagnan."

Constance then stepped forward and suddenly wrapped her arms around the man risking his life for her husband as she embraced him, then with gratitude, she whispered, "Thank you. Be careful… And please tell my husband when you find him that I'm waiting for him to come home."

Once she pulled back from him, he then answered, "As you wish, love."

"I love you, Killian," Emma spoke again worryingly, after she moved forward so she could hold her true love once more in her arms when it came time for him to leave, as he too wrapped his arms around his wife to embrace her in return. "Whatever happens down there, just think of me and remember you're my husband. Not the man you're about to pretend to be. Come back to me."

"Just like I promised you once when we were in Camelot… I will never stop fighting for us," Killian responded to her lovingly, then kissed her once more and finally walked away from her as he followed behind Regina now disguised after making herself look like the Evil Queen again with her hair pulled back behind her head, wearing a long red coat over an elegant black dress and corset, tall black stiletto boots, and a fancy black and red feathered hat on top of her head that was all given to her from Constance, who had gotten the clothes for Regina from the Queen upon her being Queen Anne's lady in waiting and closest friend.

She then mounted a horse, while David, Porthos, and another of the Musketeers whom Treville asked to join his brothers in arms in their endeavor, stood behind her with Killian in shackles between them. The three men acted as Regina's soldiers, who now also wore other garments as well to appear as such.

Emma kept her eyes solely on Killian while he and the others with him made their way down into the Duke's camp. Then, once she could no longer see him or the others, she finally lowered her eyes again to look down on Killian's wedding ring still clenched tightly within her hand.


	15. Chapter 15

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Fifteen

Back in the present day, Storybrooke…

The morning after Emma, David, Regina, and Zelena all disappeared through the time portal in order to save Hook and to get back the Black Fairy's wand, Mr. Gold walked inside Granny's Diner so he could pick up some breakfast and some hot tea for his wife and for himself. And when he entered, he wasn't surprised to find Henry already sitting in one of the booths with a few of the Author's storybooks opened on the table in front of him, while Archie and August were both sitting in the booth across from him, and Snow was sitting at the bar talking with Granny and Tinker Bell.

Rumple stepped up to the bar and spoke softly to the waitress to let her know he was there for his food order he had placed over the phone, then while he waited for her or Granny to bring it out for him, he turned and walked over to join his grandson and the two men sitting with him to find out from Henry if there had been any change in the books since he brought them back over to his grandparents' home the afternoon before.

The Dark One picked up one of the empty chairs from the table across from the booth where they were sitting, set it down at the end of the booth's table, then he sat down as he looked over between Henry, August, and the doctor and said casually, "Morning, Henry. August, and Dr. Hopper. I hope you don't mind if I join you?"

While Henry kept his eyes down on the pages of the storybook he was busy shuffling through for any answers, appearing not to have noticed his grandfather joining them, Archie smiled at their friend as he responded honestly, "Of course not, Mr. Gold. How are you this morning?"

"I suppose about as well as everyone else here are doing," Gold remorsefully replied as he looked at Archie and nodded, then turned again to look over at his grandson. "But I'm doing fine, as are both Belle and Gideon, so thank you, Doctor. Henry… have there been any changes in the pages containing the Musketeers' story?"

"Aside from the pages becoming completely blank?" the teenager curtly retorted as he quickly glanced over at the white pages where the story used to reside within the storybook he wasn't currently reading through, then slammed his open palm down on the book in front of him out of frustration, before he turned another page in it to continue searching for answers. "I'm sorry… It's just I was hoping things might be a little different because I am the Author now. But it's just like Mom said happened to Grandma's and Grandpa's story from how they first met back when she and Killian traveled into the past. The pages are just blank. I even tried using the quill over and over to see if I could convince the pages to tell me what's happening right now in their story, but so far… nothing."

Gold nodded in understanding of Henry's frustration and then when he reached out to pick up the book with the blank pages, the boy finally raised his head to look over at him and the others sitting with him as the Dark One answered, "I did say it might be possible. I didn't say for sure it would work. But there's one thing I do know… these pages are blank, because it is the Musketeers' story that is still currently being rewritten. Not those of your loved ones. And because it hasn't yet finished playing out, we might not yet know what will happen until they have come to the end of their story. I too thought that perhaps because you are the Author, we might be able to see what is happening with your mothers, your grandfather, Hook, and Zelena as well."

Henry let out a frustrated sigh, then he looked away from the pages in his book again and responded worryingly, "I just hate being unable to help anyone, when those we love are in danger."

"There's nothing any one of us can do for them right now, Henry," Snow sadly replied when she at last came over to join them, and sat down in the booth beside her grandson. "Believe me… I know how it feels to feel so useless."

"They'll make it back," August answered when he too finally spoke up, in hope of assuring his young friend and Snow that their loved ones really were going to be okay. "I'm sure of it."

Snow eagerly nodded as she looked across the table at him and she responded, "August is right. We can't just sit here worrying. None of them would want that. We have to have hope. We always find a way back to one another. Always. No matter the dangers we face."

Rumple smiled over at the Princess as he replied, "Indeed so, dearie. You heroes are nothing if not resilient."

"Here you are, Mr. Gold," Granny then stated once she came over to her friends' table and sat down a bag of food for him and Belle in front of him, as well as two cups of hot Earl Grey tea just like she knew they both liked to drink. "Don't worry about paying me. Today it's on the house. Tell Belle I miss her around here and hope to see her and that beautiful baby of yours come around again soon."

"I will," the former villain working hard to be the hero most everyone has now come to see him as, answered her sincerely. "Thank you very much, Granny."

As he stood up once the older woman stepped back so he could, Gold then looked over at Henry again and spoke again kindly saying, "Henry… if anything at all comes up, please let me know straightaway. And if you need anything…"

However, he stopped talking, when the blank pages within the storybook suddenly began to rustle wildly as if a strong wind strangely swept through the diner. Everyone stared down at them in silence and in awe until they finally stopped moving again, as they fell open to reveal that the blank pages were no longer blank. At least not all of them.

When the teenager reached out to pull the book closer and on top of the other one he had been reading so he could see what the pages were trying to tell him with a concerned look on his face, Snow looked at him as she questioned worryingly, "What just happened, Henry? Is everyone all right? Are the pages telling you what's happened to them?"

"I don't really know," Henry apprehensively responded without looking away from the book he was still holding. "They're walking into what appears to be a large rock quarry. Mom and Grandpa, and… Killian. Regina, I mean. Not Emma. Only… Mom is dressed again like the Evil Queen, Grandpa is dressed in some kind of soldier like uniform, and Killian… he's dressed like a prisoner and somehow he has two hands again."

"Well… what does the story say?" August nervously asked his young friend. "The words I mean. Does it say why?"

The Author set the book back down on the table still open in front of him and glanced up at the man who was once a puppet made from wood, then turned his head to look between Archie, his grandmother, and his grandfather as well, when at last he replied worryingly, "Only that they're all in disguise in order to be able to walk down into a slave camp being overseen by someone known as the Duke of Savoy… so that they can save the life of one of the Musketeers and steal back the Black Fairy's wand. The words say that Killian is pretending to be a slave my Mom is about to offer over to the Duke, so that he will hopefully be able to find the wand and d'Artagnan so he can assure him that his friends have come to save him. Why would the book reveal this to me now? I don't understand."

Rumple looked between his grandson and the storybook again while he answered stoically, "It appears your Author powers are working just as we hoped after all. And this plan those back in Seventeenth Century France have come up with, is the first plan they have begun to put into action. Their actions have clearly become solid. Unfortunately, their plan is quite dangerous. Hopefully, your loved ones will have the entire regiment of Musketeers to back them up. They'll be okay, Henry. And Snow. I'm sure of it."


	16. Chapter 16

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Sixteen

Back within the Duke of Savoy's camp…

While Killian continued to walk alongside David, between him, Porthos, and another of the Musketeers whom they had also recently come to know within the last few hours' time, his heart only grew heavier the closer that they came to standing just outside of the Duke's tent set up within the center of the camp. Especially once they started walking through the camp and observed the men and women being forced to work as slaves, as they worked to make weapons and smash the rocks within the quarry in search of iron that was needed for them.

Killian didn't say a word to his father in law, and especially not to Emma, but the truth was that he was more frightened of becoming a slave again than he had let on in front of those who he knew loved him. Very little scared him outside of losing the woman he loved. The only things that did, was losing himself to becoming again the three people he hated and feared being most in his long life… The villain Captain Hook, and even more so the Dark One, and a slave like who he had been between the ages of ten to twenty-six years, if not longer.

While he knew and understood that he was only pretending to become a slave again for the sake of saving a man's life and to help those he loved return home again, the truth was he didn't know if there would be any coming back from the pain awaiting for him the moment Regina would begin to offer him over to the Duke of Savoy once their ruse began.

Once they finally stopped upon reaching the tent, after the soldiers guarding the camp allowed them to pass through when Regina announced her reasons for coming to speak with the Duke, they waited for only a moment before the man in charge of the slave camp came out to meet them, followed out by Cardinal Richelieu. The treacherous man of God whom the Musketeers had explained Count de Rochefort traded his loyalty and honor to, all for money and power.

"Well… well… well… This is indeed a pleasant surprise," the Cardinal spoke out first once he looked up the woman before him on horseback, having become awed by her beauty the moment he saw her, while the Duke and guards standing around them studied her soldiers and the man between them in chains, as Killian kept his head down. "Milady… might I ask who you are? And to what do we owe this pleasure of your visit?"

"I am Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent," Regina answered the man proclaiming to be doing God's will, with poise and composure just as if she had truly again become the Evil Queen. "I've come here from Marseille upon hearing about your… operation here in Paris. I pay well to be informed of everything that goes on throughout all of France and within any city I come to stay in, especially when business such as yours and the Duke's here, can benefit me."

Regina then dismounted from her horse with help from the Musketeer behind her, who quickly returned to standing on Hook's left once he did so, and she continued to face the villains before her while she spoke again confidently saying, "I've come, because I wish to seek an alliance with those who are on the right side of what's soon to come of our country. I seek power and you both have it. And now that I see you're still in need of weapons for this imminent war, I can help supply you with more, or I can offer you treasures that will continue to help pay for your work here."

Upon hearing this woman's offer, the Duke studied her closely until he replied to her skeptically, "And how is it that we can know you mean what you say, and that you haven't really come here to spy on us for those who wish to destroy our hard work?"

"I suspected you would ask," the former Evil Queen haughtily responded as she turned her head to look at him, then towards the Cardinal once again, until she finally turned to look behind her at Killian after she moved her horse aside, and she continued to speak. "To show you I mean what I say and mean well, I have brought with me one of my most prized slaves, who has worked for me for two years. He's strong and hardworking, and what's more important… he has been broken so that he is now completely submissive to anyone who owns him. He no longer fights against those giving him his orders, and he will do whatever you demand of him."

"A single slave?" the Duke sternly retorted as he turned his eyes upon Killian, then began to walk around him, studying him as if he were nothing more than a prize to be won. "Aside from him being broken, what makes him worth more than any one of the slaves working for me already? They've all been broken. Except for perhaps a few who are too stubborn to give up. Can you tell me truthfully, that this slave possesses skills which will do more to benefit me and our King in this war to come, than any of the rest of my slaves here can?"

Regina glanced over at Hook again while deep remorse for him arose within her heart even though she didn't show it on her face, but as their suspicion was to be expected, she turned back to the Duke of Savoy and answered coldly, "For that, you're going to have to pay me for him. He was meant to be a gift, but because of your skepticism, I no longer feel that you deserve any help I can offer you. Pay me thirty livre, or thirty pieces of silver for your answer, and another ninety for my slave should my answer satisfy your doubts. Otherwise, we will return to Marseilles and you will be left standing here disappointed. What do you say?"

Richelieu smiled at this woman's fearlessness and cruelty, especially as he observed the sneer on her face and the coldness in her eyes while the Duke suddenly forced Killian down to ground on his knees, then roughly grabbed hold of his hair to hold him still so he could pull up his shirt to search his back for the signs he expected to find on a slave. The marks left behind from being whipped by a lash, or even a brand burned into his skin to show he was previously owned just as the pirate Captain and former slave knew the slave master would do.

The monster forcefully holding him on the ground continued to brutally observe the very signs he expected to find in the slave still on his knees before him, by suddenly striking him over and over across his back with a baton he took off of one of his own soldiers, as if to try to arouse any kind of reaction out of him. However, Killian just struggled to stifle his cries and closed his eyes in order to avoid looking towards David still standing nearby him so he wouldn't see his pity or remorse, while David, Regina, and Porthos all had to hold back their anger and hatred for these men. In the meantime, the Cardinal just stood by as the Duke humiliated their friend and continued to hurt him.

At last, the Duke had his fun and finally finished once he released Killian, allowing him to collapse to the ground, then the villain turned back to the former Evil Queen again as he spoke gruffly saying, "Thirty livres… for this answer you have for me about what makes him different from any of my other slaves. If it is worth the other ninety livre for him, then we have ourselves an alliance."

"This man was once a blacksmith, and a very skilled assassin," Regina reluctantly replied to him when she finally turned away from her friend again, no longer able to stare down at the blood now beginning to trickle down his back through the loose shirt he was wearing from where the Duke had struck him. "I caught him breaking into my home so he could kill a young woman who use to work for me some time ago, then because I saw he could be useful, I hired him to kill someone for me whom I needed removed from my life. Unfortunately, this slave here became too soft because he fell for this other someone's lies. To punish him, I captured him again and tortured him until I broke him so that I could make him my slave, as he has been ever since. But if you need to have a thorn in your side killed once you've made him solely devoted to you as his new masters, then I can promise you he will succeed. He's proven so to me on countless occasions. If you wish… we can hold off payment so you can observe him for a few days. And if you're fully satisfied, and I get what I want, he can be yours."

"A deal we have then, and an alliance between us shall be made," the corrupt Cardinal finally responded for the Duke before he said another word, then reached out to take her hand into his own so he could kiss it seductively. "You are quite a woman, Baroness. I would very much like to invite you to remain here in Paris for awhile as my honored guest, if you aren't in too much of a hurry to return home? King Louis would love to meet you."

Regina restrained herself from speaking the malice she truly wanted to say to him, and instead simply yanked her hand away while she smiled at him and the Duke, then she answered darkly, "I must be getting home, but I'll be staying in Paris while I await to hear from you again when you give me your answer. I look forward to our next meeting, Your Eminence. Your Grace."

And with that said, Regina remounted her horse again without another word to the men now behind her. At last, she started making her way back through the camp, followed closely by David and the Musketeers, regretfully leaving Killian behind in the hands of the monsters holding another innocent man as their prisoner, so that the pirate Captain too could fulfill his role in their ruse that none of the heroes were happy about, or proud of.

Once they returned to where the Savior, Zelena, Constance, and the other Musketeers were waiting for them, Emma looked at her father and she could immediately see in his eyes that the conditions within the slave camp were bad, and that he hated to leave her husband behind to be forced to act as a slave, as much as she hated that Killian was the only one of them who could do what was needed so their plan could work.

Then, when his daughter raised her hand up to her face to wipe away the tears in her eyes threatening to fall as she turned away from him and everyone else, David reached out to take her other hand as he whispered, "I'm so sorry, Emma. I wish there was another way. But Hook is going to be all right. He's a survivor, remember?"

"Do you want to know what is was Killian asked me to do for him when all of this is finally over?" she brusquely asked her father in reply when she suddenly turned around to face him again. "He asked me to remind him that he's no longer a slave. He didn't say it in so many words, but he's afraid that this only option we could come up with… will push him so far back into his memories of being a slave when he was just a child, that he won't remember he's been a free man for over two hundred years since then. That he'll once again only see himself as the worthless boy and man Captain Silver made him believe he was for so long, despite having his brother there to try to help him see otherwise. We may not have found another way to save d'Artagnan and to get the wand back, but this way is the worst way we could have possibly come up with. And Killian is going to suffer the most from it. He shouldn't have to survive becoming a slave again."

"You're right," David finally responded as he quickly pulled his daughter into his arms so he could comfort her the only way he knew how, then gently kissed the top of her head. "This plan was a terrible plan and it's unfair that we asked Hook to do this. But he isn't doing this just because it's what's right. Not for the wand… and not just to save an innocent man's life. He's doing it all for you because he loves you, and because he wants to continue to prove to you he's the man we both see him as. One day, he will see it for himself without our help. But until that day, you and I… your mother and Henry… We will always be there for him. Just as we're here for you too. For what it's worth… Hook didn't show any sign of weakness while we traded him over to those bastards. He's fighting to come back to you. And he will. I know it. Have hope."


	17. Chapter 17

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Seventeen

Once again in Storybrooke…

After he left Granny's to return home to his wife and son with their food, Gold walked inside the house he and Belle lived in together, and found the beauty reading while she was sitting in the chair next to Gideon's crib, waiting for their son to wake up. However, when she looked up from her book upon seeing her husband had returned, she glanced over into the crib and saw that Gideon was still fast asleep, so she stood up, then followed Rumple downstairs into the dining room so they could talk and eat without waking their son up.

Gold glanced down at the binding of the book when Belle set it down on top of the table beside her so she could pull out the contents of the bag and begin to serve the food once she grabbed a few plates from the kitchen cupboards, then he questioned, "_The Three Musketeers_, by Alexandre Dumas? It appears that Henry isn't the only one who has felt the need to study their story. You're simply doing so from a different source."

Belle looked over at him again when she handed him a plate so they could put the food from the diner on them, then she replied softly, "I took it out from the library last night. You know… when I stopped by on my way home from visiting with Henry and Snow, while you stopped by your shop to work for a few hours. I know I won't find anything in their novel that will help Henry and Snow right now. But I couldn't help but feel inspired to read it again with all this talk we've had of the Musketeers. I really wish I had sought them out while they lived here all these months since their arrival in Storybrooke. I feel terrible that I didn't."

"From what I understand, they weren't so keen to get to know anyone here," her husband responded as he took over serving for his wife so she could relax. "They pretty much kept to themselves. Granny said that she barely saw them, except when they would come into the diner for meals from time to time before always taking their food to go. Some of those who lost themselves within the Land of Untold Stories clearly regret leaving their old lives more than most. Or at least, some can't seem to put their past lives behind them. It appears the Musketeers were among those who couldn't. I'm glad I had a way of helping them to return home. I just should have known what the price of using my mother's wand to open another time portal again would be."

"You did know, Rumple," the beauty assured him gently. "You warned Emma and Killian not to allow themselves to be pulled through the portal. Not that I'm saying they didn't do the right thing of course. And I'm not saying they did anything wrong by following the Musketeers and one of their story's villains through it. Count Rochefort stole the wand and kidnapped Killian. Of course Emma and the others were right to go after them, especially to save Killian. What happened is terrible, but you certainly have nothing to blame yourself for. They will find a way home. I'm certain of it."

The former villain looked over at the woman he loved again with concern as he answered, "Yes. But at what cost? When I was just now at Granny's, Henry was there with the storybook once containing the Musketeers' story. As you know from last night when Henry returned with it and a few of the other storybooks, the pages from their story were blank. And yet they aren't any longer. Their story has begun to be rewritten just as Henry and I hoped and we were able to see some of it thanks to Henry's Author powers. And from what I saw so far… it isn't good, Belle. I fear our friends are in real danger."

Belle tenderly laid her hand over her husband's, and was about to ask him to continue on until she and Gold could hear Gideon begin to cry through the baby monitor when he started waking up. So, she rose from the table and left the dining room so she could go upstairs to care for their son, leaving Gold alone at the table as he picked up the book and began to read the pages where his wife had left off once he lifted the bookmark she used to mark her place away to do so.

As he did so, the Dark One read about the three Musketeers meeting d'Artagnan for the first time when he came to Paris seeking them out in hope of becoming a Musketeer himself. It appeared that the younger of them didn't make a good first impression with the other three, since their meetings prompted d'Artagnan to goad all three into a three separate duels to the death within a single day. However, a battle broke out between the Musketeers and the villain, Count de Rochefort, and d'Artagnan eagerly joined with the story's heroes against the villain and his soldiers to prove himself worthy of becoming one of them. And proved himself, he did.

When Belle returned with their son in her arms a short time later, after she finished changing Gideon and feeding him, she stated, "Our son is all ready for the day. He's dressed and has already has his own breakfast. Now… Mommy and Daddy just have to finish eating theirs."

"Allow me to hold him while you eat," Gold replied to her as he quickly put the book back down on the table so he could take his son, then he sat Gideon down on his lap and began to bounce him up and down on his knee to make him laugh.

"Did you like what you were reading just now as I came back in here?" the beauty then asked her husband once she swallowed the first bite of her pancakes now smothered in maple syrup.

Rumple looked over at the woman he loved again as he responded, "Let's just say that what I read, has shown me how resilient these Musketeers can be, and that our friends have brave allies to help them make their way back home. I can only hope that it is enough."

Belle smiled at him and then she answered lovingly, "Sometimes hope is all we need."


	18. Chapter 18

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Eighteen

In the hills above the slave camp…

When David finished comforting his daughter as much as he could for the time being, the Prince walked over to join Regina and Zelena who had both taken a seat on the ground so the older sister could check on Regina's wound in her shoulder again, happy to find that it really was nothing more than a graze, and that it hadn't started to bleed anymore through the bandages now protecting it. David was about to ask Regina if she was all right, until the Mayor of their town spoke first as soon as he approached them.

"How is Emma holding up?" Regina asked worryingly as she glanced over towards where the Savior was trying to keep herself busy by tending to the horses they all rode out to the camp on in order to try not to think so much about the man she loved taking the biggest risk for them.

"About as well as we can expect from her under the circumstances," David sadly answered her when he turned his head to look towards his daughter as well, then turned to watch as Porthos and Athos dragged Count Rochefort still bound over to a tree so that they could tie him to it on his suggestion, just as Emma had once done to Hook the time they first met a few years ago. "She's actually holding it together pretty well. Although, if she really saw everything that happened down there, I'm not so sure she would be as strong as she is right now. What about you, Regina? How are you doing?"

Regina turned her head to look down at her shoulder as Zelena carefully pulled the bandages back over the wound to readjust them after she examined it, and she replied, "My shoulder's fine. It barely hurts."

Charming let out a sigh and then he spoke again worryingly saying, "That's good, but I was actually wondering how you were doing emotionally. You were frighteningly good at playing your old self again, even though I know saying those things about Hook had to have been difficult. Not to mention seeing that bastard beat him just to see if he could get a rise out of him, and being unable to do anything to stop it had been."

"Hook is a friend and so is Emma, so of course it wasn't easy to stand there and do nothing to stop that monster from hurting him," the former Evil Queen curtly responded as she raised her head again to finally look up at David, who continued to stand over her and Zelena. "I wanted to fry the Duke and that so called man of God with one of my fireballs. Thankfully, I'm as good as Hook is at remaining passive when all we really want to do is scream. At least… most of the time."

"I didn't know Hook used to be a slave before he joined the Royal Navy and then became a pirate," Regina remorsefully continued when she glanced towards the Savior again, then looked up at David once more. "Is that why… why he held so much hate for his father all these years?"

David sat down on the ground in front of the women and then he answered, "Because his father sold him and his brother into servitude, so yeah. It's mostly why Hook killed him."

Regina shook her head in contempt for herself and replied, "Sadly, knowing the full truth back then wouldn't have made me think twice about my decision to exploit his pain. So I could goad him into killing his father in order to make sure Hook was ruthless enough to kill my mother. In fact, I probably would have used that knowledge to dig the knife a little deeper into his wound so to speak, just to see how much pain I might have been able to get him to inflict on others. I regret it now of course. I regret even thinking about what I could have done."

"I'm sure he's forgiven you," the Prince assured her as he smiled at his friend.

"David's right," Zelena added when she finally spoke again. "You are friends now after all. Do you really think you would be if our pirate Captain was holding any kind of grudge against you as he has held over Rumplestiltskin all those years? Hook may finally be letting go of his hatred towards the Dark One, as they're slowly becoming friends. However, a part of that hatred still exists and every now and again, we see it slip through. That doesn't really happen with you. At least not that I've seen anymore, unless you both strongly disagree with any plans we come up with, or any big decisions that affect all of us back home. With Emma and Henry in particular."

David nodded in agreement, then he stated, "Zelena's right."

Regina smiled at them and then she responded, "Thank you. I'm not really sure that makes me feel better about how I treated Hook all those years ago, but it helps."

"So… Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent?" Charming then questioned her upon remembering the name she gave to the Duke and Cardinal down in the camp. "The name of Angelica Huston's character from Ever After?"

"It was one of Henry's movies that we watched a few nights ago when we had Ashley and Thomas with Alexandra over for dinner," she answered, as she smiled when she thought about her son and how excited he gets whenever he has an opportunity to show people from the Enchanted Forest the movies about their characters they've never seen or heard of before. "And they both loved it, even though their story didn't play out anything like their characters from the movie. I guess the character of the Evil Stepmother stood out to me. When Cardinal Richelieu asked for my name, Angelica Huston's character just popped into my head."

Zelena looked at her sister as she replied, "As it should. This actress played a wicked Evil Stepmother. I've actually seen that movie before and I quite enjoyed it. Especially her character."

When Aramis walked over to join them to see how their friends from another world were doing upon seeing them look somewhat happy despite the dire circumstances, he spoke from behind them softly saying, "It's good to see each of you are in good spirits. At least about as well as you can be. I wanted to let you know that Porthos and Athos will be going out into the forest to find us some food. If we're going to succeed, we're going to need to keep up our strength."

"Thank you," David responded to the Musketeer, then turned towards Emma when he saw her walking towards them to join them again. "We definitely could use something to eat."

"Will you be keeping an eye on the camp then while they're gone?" the Savior asked of the Musketeer once she came up to them and looked sternly into Aramis' eyes.

The charming soldier nodded and answered, "Of course, milady. I assure you, we have eyes on the camp below at all times. I'm about to take over their watch. When your husband signals us, we will see it. And if there's trouble…"

Before he could finish saying what she didn't want to hear, Emma quickly interrupted him as she brusquely stated, "Good. I'm joining you. Your other Musketeer friend can take a later watch."

"As you wish, milady," Aramis gently replied to her, then nodded to David, Regina, and Zelena, before he turned to follow after the Savior once she walked away from them to take Athos' place at the edge of the hill where he and Porthos had been keeping watch since their arrival, and after they left them alone, Aramis looked at Emma when he spoke to her again. "So if you don't mind sharing, I would love to hear how you and your husband met."

"Our first meeting certainly wasn't love at first sight like it was for my parents," Emma sadly responded, despite the small smile that came over her face when she thought about the man she loved and how their love story began. "But… Killian wasn't at all the villain I thought I knew from the stories I knew about him either. He was different and once I got to know the real man he kept buried deep down because of the pain he's suffered throughout his life, I eventually came to see he was a man I could fall in love with. And in time, I did. Killian once told me that he would one day win my heart. I didn't believe him then, but he was right."

Despite how much it pained her to talk about her husband while he was currently having to remember the most painful years of his own life as he pretended to me a man he tried so hard to forget about, Emma shared with Aramis the story of how they met, and the further into their story she got into, the more tears stained her cheeks once she began to cry in silence.

Some time ago in the Enchanted Forest when Emma and Mary Margaret became trapped there…

_After Emma, Mary Margaret, Mulan, and Aurora returned to the small village they believed was their safe haven and fearfully discovered that everyone they left behind were all dead, __Emma immediately rushed towards a stack of bodies and debris, under which she suddenly saw someone trapped beneath waving their hand for help, as she shouted, "Hey! Hey! Look!"_

_ Mulan and Aurora quickly joined her to help pull away all that buried the man while the Princess cried out, "There's someone under there. He's alive."_

_ "Please…" the man the heroes didn't know to be Hook at the time, deceptively pleaded with them once he was finally pulled free._

_ "It's okay," Aurora tried to assure him while he looked between the women surrounding him in fear._

_ The stranger pleaded with them again, "Please help me."_

_ Mary Margaret looked down at him with kindness in her eyes as she answered, "It's okay. You're safe now. We won't hurt you."_

_ "Thank you," he faintly replied again in between pants as he struggled to get his breathing back under control. "Thank you."_

_ Once they helped the sole survivor of Cora's attack on the village out from among the dead and destruction and then helped him sit down at a table nearby, the women all left him alone for a bit so he could take some time to rest before answering any of their questions they had for him. However, Mulan and Emma watched the stranger from a distance upon being skeptical of his survival._

_ "Have you seen him before?" Emma nervously questioned the warrior standing beside her as she kept her eyes on the only man among them._

_ As the two of then slowly began walking towards him again, Mulan responded to her quietly, "Yes… I've seen him around. He's a blacksmith. Came to our camp a couple months ago. Said he lost his hand in an ogre attack."_

_ While Emma stared suspiciously at the survivor, she asked again, "Why would Cora leave a survivor? It's messy. Doesn't make sense."_

_ "You think he's lying?" Mulan questioned when she turned her head to look at the woman from another land who had quickly come to be her friend._

_ "I think Cora's tricked us before," the Savior curtly answered. "I don't want that to happen again."_

_ Once the women reached the supposed blacksmith again, as did Mary Margaret and Aurora, Emma handed him a cup as she stated, "Here you go."_

_ After Mulan filled his cup with wine, then did the same for the others who also had their own goblets, Hook generously replied, "I can't thank you enough for your kindness. Fortune… it seems, has seen fit to show me favor."_

_ "An island full of corpses," the Savior suspiciously responded to the one handed stranger as she kept her eyes on his to read him for signs of deception, which she saw within them quite clearly. "You're the only one to escape. How exactly did that happen?"_

_ Hook looked up at her, then lowered his eyes and stared out at nothing to show false fear until he finally looked around at the others as well while he answered again somberly, "She attacked at night… Slaughtered everyone in one fell swoop. When she started ripping out people's hearts, I hid under the bodies of those who had already been killed. Pretended to be dead myself. Mercifully, the ruse worked."_

_ Emma looked at him with disappointment as she replied, "So much for fortune favoring the brave."_

_ "It was all I could do to survive," he sternly responded again._

_ The blonde woman standing over him at last leaned down on top of the table where he sat and looked firmly into his eyes, then she spoke softly saying, "I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I'm pretty good at knowing when someone is lying to me."_

_ The pirate whispered confidently, "I'm telling you the truth."_

_ "We should leave here in case Cora decides to come back," Mulan at last spoke out nervously upon being satisfied by the man's story, while Emma simply smiled at Hook after continuing to sense his lies._

_ "We should start searching for a new portal back to Storybrooke," Mary Margaret added anxiously. "I only got about five minutes with my husband. Not to mention, my grandson."_

_ Hook looked up at her with surprise as he questioned kindly, "You have a grandson?"_

_ She quickly answered, "Long story."_

_ "Well, I know this land well," he then continued, not noticing as Emma stepped away until she walked around behind him. "I can guide you."_

_ "You're not going to guide us anywhere, until you tell us who you really are," she suddenly replied crossly, as she swiftly drew a dagger and rested it tightly against his throat once she grabbed his head by his hair to hold him within her grasp, causing him to pant heavily when she did so._

A short time later…

_The heroes dragged the imposter out into a clearing within the woods and __Mulan immediately bound Hook to a tree, tying ropes around his chest and his arms to keep him firmly in place while Emma, Mary Margaret, and Aurora stood by, then Killian looked between them as he pleaded, "I already told you… I'm just a blacksmith."_

_ Just before she whistled in order to draw the attentions of the ogres nearby, the Savior grumbled, "Sure you are."_

_ "You don't want to talk to us?" she added more crossly once the monsters began howling in the distance, then turned back to face Hook again. "Maybe, you'll talk to the ogres while they rip you limb from limb."_

_ "Come on," Emma uttered when the ogres could then be heard approaching them, while the other three with them turned away to leave and the Savior then turned to follow after them._

_ However, Hook cried out to them as he shouted, "You… You can't just leave me here like this!"_

_ Aurora paused a moment as she turned back to look at the man still bound to the tree and then responded nervously, "What if he's telling the truth?"_

_ "He's not," the Savior firmly stated, as she and the other women simply kept walking on._

_ And then, at last Hook gave up on his ruse when he bellowed out to them again with a chuckle, "Good for you! You bested me. I can count the amount of people who've done that on one hand."_

_ "That supposed to be funny?" Emma brusquely retorted as she finally walked back over to him once she and the other women stopped again to face him. "Who are you?"_

_ "Killian Jones," the pirate Captain smugly answered her. "But most people have taken to call me by my more colorful moniker… Hook."_

_ Upon recognizing the name from the stories of Peter Pan she's had her students in her class read in the past, she stared at him as she uttered with disbelief, "Hook…"_

_ He quickly retorted again, "Check my satchel."_

_ "As in… Captain Hook?" Emma then questioned in her own disbelief upon knowing of him from the Disney movie, as well as another popular and loved movie titled simply for his own name._

_ "Ah… so you've heard of me." Killian audaciously replied again, as Mary Margaret dug through the items within Hook's satchel until she found and pulled out the curved and sharpened piece of metal that gave him his moniker, then held it up in front of her while she stared at it in surprise._

_ However, upon hearing and feeling the ogres still approaching them faster than before as the ground began to shake under their feet, Emma swiftly continued to interrogate him as she responded curtly, "You better hurry up. They're getting closer. So… unless you want to be dinner, you better start talking."_

_ The pirate Captain chuckled again and then finally he continued, "Cora wanted me to gain your trust, so I could learn everything there is to know about your Storybrooke. She didn't want any surprises when she finally got over there."_

_ "She can't get there," Mary Margaret stated again in confusion upon remembering back to Emma burning the wardrobe hours earlier to try to stop the evil sorceress. "We destroyed the wardrobe."_

_ "Ah, but the enchantment remains," he haughtily answered her until his voice grew cold once more. "Cora gathered the ashes. She's going to use them to open up a portal. Now… if you'll kindly cut me loose."_

_ However, Mulan said cruelly out of anger, "No. We should leave him here to die. To pay for all the lives that he took."_

_ Hook steadfastly argued, "That was Cora, not me."_

_ "Let's go," Emma then replied once again when she and the other three women with her turned to go like before._

_ "Wait," the captive then grumbled, until he suddenly raised his voice again and angrily shouted out to them to stop. "Wait! You need me alive."_

_ The Savior faced him again as she questioned skeptically, "Why?"_

_ While Emma warily approached him again, the pirate coolly responded to her, "Because we both want the same thing… to get back to your land."_

_ "You would say anything to save yourself," she impatiently retorted again. "Why are we supposed to believe you now?"_

_ "I arranged for transport with Cora," he confidently answered her. "But… seeing how resourceful you are, I'll offer you the same deal… I'll help you, if you promise to take me along."_

_ After Mary Margaret tethered an arrow into her bow as the ogres drew nearer, she looked at the villain sternly as she asked, "How are you going to help us get home?"_

_ Out of frustration from the women's constant questioning, he replied coldly, "The ashes will open a portal, but to find your land, she needs more. There's an enchanted compass. Cora seeks it. I'll help you obtain it before she does."_

_ "So Cora won't make it to Storybrooke, and we'll be one step closer to getting home," the Savior continued for him when she understood what he was telling them._

_ "Sounds too good to be true," Emma's mother then stated reluctantly with a shake of her head, finding it difficult to believe a word this man was telling them any longer._

_ However, Hook retorted, "There's only one way to find out."_

_ And then at last, Emma swiftly drew her dagger from her boot once again and raised the tip of the blade to his throat like before as she demanded strongly, "You tell me one thing… and whatever you say, I better believe it… Why does Captain Hook want to go to Storybrooke?"_

_ "To exact revenge on the man who took my hand… Rumplestiltskin," the villain darkly answered her with all honesty, and from the anger and hatred the Savior could see burning in his eyes in that moment, she knew he had spoken the truth._

Back in the present, while Aramis continued to listen…

"That isn't the man Killian was deep down inside, and it wasn't long before he was able to find his good heart as he fought harder than anyone I've ever known to change until everyone back home came to see him as the hero he truly is," she finally finished, then just stared down at the ground in front of her while she remained silent once more, until she sadly whispered a few final words. "Except for him."

The Musketeer then reached out to lay his hand down on top of hers and gently assured her, "I'm so sorry for everything, Emma. Truly I am."

She finally looked into his eyes, then softly replied, "So long as we get him out of there alive and I can remind him of who he really is like he asked me to do for him, he would say this was all worth it. Killian won't let your friend remain a slave like he was a long time ago… past today."

Aramis looked at the Savior with admiration, then smiled until he simply bowed his head to show her the gratitude he felt swelling up within his heart. Finally, she pulled her hand away from his and then stood up again upon seeing her father, Regina, and Zelena approach the villain bound to the tree so they could begin their interrogation that they hoped would produce some answers.


	19. Chapter 19

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Nineteen

Once David, Regina, and Zelena walked over until they're standing in front of Count Rochefort who was now bound to a tree by the rope he had been tied with since the heroes and Musketeers had left Constance's home within the village, Prince Charming spoke to him first while he glared at him, questioning coldly, "What was the point of all this? Why did you steal the wand? And why did you pull our friend through the portal with you? If you had just run through the portal on your own, or even with just the Genie, we never would have chased after you. You're hardly worth the trouble. So why? Why risk taking someone we care about that would have obviously forced us to chase after you?"

The villain still wearing his eyepatch smiled at him while he answered haughtily, "You can ask as many questions as you like. I don't have to answer to you. I have my reasons."

"You've seen the kind of magic we possess and therefore you surely know that we have plenty of ways to make you tell us what we want to know," Zelena curtly responded, keeping her eyes on the prisoner as much as Regina and David were.

"In your world you possess magic, but here in mine, your magic is weak," Rochefort snidely replied when he turned his head to look at the former Wicked Witch, then towards Regina again as well and chortled. "Do you think I haven't heard you talking about your magic not working properly? That I haven't seen it fade for myself when you failed to protect yourself from my soldier's shot that struck you in the shoulder? You captured me, but not by the use of magic."

David sighed in frustration, then he glanced worryingly towards his daughter whose back was still to him while she continued to keep watch over the camp below them and talked with the Musketeer beside her, before he turned back to the Count again as he answered quietly, "You're right. Magic here is weak. It exists, but not enough to allow those of us with it to use it to help us get back home. It's also the reason why we had to resort to using our friend like we are in order to save the man you imprisoned down there in that slave camp and to steal back the wand you also stole from us. We might not be able to use magic against you to get answers, but I'm sure not all of us are against using force to convince you to talk. I can keep that from happening if you'll just tell us what we want to know."

Constance turned her head towards the Prince as she responded, "Threat of torture won't convince him to tell us anything. Trust me… d'Artagnan, Captain Treville, and the Musketeers know this all too well. This vile man is as tough as they come."

"Actually… our magic may not be working properly, but I might know someone's whose is working just fine, being that he's one of the most powerful beings to exist," Regina replied again upon remembering they had more than one prisoner among them, then she walked over to David's horse he had ridden to fetch the magic lamp from his saddle bag still draped over the animal. "I'm fairly certain he won't be so silent."

"You're right… he won't," Zelena smugly stated again, while her sister pulled the lamp out from the bag and then rubbed it in order to summon its lone occupant from within.

Smoke rose from the artifact the moment she did so, then within seconds, the Genie appeared before the heroes and remained silent until Regina asked, "I take it you know what's going on right now? I know you're not oblivious to what's happening around you, even if you have been trapped inside of this thing since you've come over to this world. So, tell us what we want to know when we ask you our questions, or…"

Iago sternly interrupted, "Don't threaten to destroy my lamp with your fire, witch. You can't. But you are currently the one once again in possession of my lamp, and therefore I have no choice but to comply to your will. So ask me your questions."

"Why did your former master drag Hook through the portal with him, and why does he want the fairy wand he stole from us?" David crossly asked the magical being in front of him.

"I said Her Majesty, the Queen is the one in possession of my lamp," the Genie retorted as he looked over at the man who attempted to ask the first question.

Regina looked at him with frustration and then she said curtly, "You will answer his questions as well as mine, Zelena's, Emma's, or any of the Musketeers' should they have any for you as well."

Iago looked at her again and then bowed his head in understanding, before he turned to David again when he answered him, "Count Rochefort abducted your friend in order to use him to help prove to those here in the existence of magic, who won't believe him about how he had been trapped in another world for several centuries. It wasn't planned, but using the pirate was a convenient opportunity. If you hadn't have come after him, he would have wound up becoming another of the Duke's slaves anyways, just like the Musketeer down there became. As for the wand… he wanted it so that he and Cardinal Richelieu could use its magic to help them rise to power even over the King of this land himself."

"Why ever did you agree to help this traitor?" Zelena asked him in trying to understand the Genie's motives. "Because he promised to free you from your own enslavement to this lamp of yours? That's pathetic."

"I fell for his lies," the Genie coldly responded to her. "Just as the rest of you have no doubt trusted in the wrong people as well. I should have known better."

Regina curiously asked, "What do you mean? Who betrayed you before Rochefort?"

He looked at the former Evil Queen again and then responded darkly, "A sorcerer. Who never found, nor sought redemption. No doubt he's still a villain, wherever he is. He's a very powerful sorcerer from my own land. He calls himself Jafar. I trusted him for many years. Even admired him. I never suspected he would betray me as he did. He had been seeking a magic lamp for a long time before he ever came across the street rat, Aladdin and his Princess. And when he finally found one, before ever hearing of the Genie earlier set free by Aladdin, he found the lamp to be empty. The Genie it belonged to had been wished freed from his lamp. However, Jafar sought out magic and dark sorcery to try make the lamp all powerful again and in so doing, he entrapped me as the lamp's new Genie. I was taken from him before he ever had the chance to make his wishes."

"You're right… you should have known better than to trust another villain," Emma angrily replied as she walked over to stand beside her father after she overheard most of the Genie's interrogation, while Aramis continued to look down over the slave camp. "If you continue to trust in them because you're nothing more than a villain yourself, you deserve everything bad that's happened to you and more. Where is the wand we need to get back home right now? Whose possession is it in?"

"The fairy wand is currently in the possession of the Cardinal," Iago answered her when he looked into her troubled eyes, knowing exactly who it was she was worried for. "Count Rochefort gave it to him after they discussed how it could be of great use to their plans. I just don't know where he's keeping it hidden. Taking it back from this so called man of God… won't be so easy for your pirate to do. The Cardinal may not have magic, but he does have power of a different kind in this world, and many secrets he knows how to keep."

David looked over at his daughter again as he responded assuredly, "He's a pirate. If anyone can find the wand, it's Hook, Emma. Believe that."

Emma looked over at him in return and then she sadly replied, "I do believe it. I'm just afraid of what staying down there long enough to do so is going to really cost him. Killian already fears becoming a slave again will make him come to believe his happiness now is nothing more than a dream. What if he feels he isn't strong enough to not fall back into the darkness that consumed him when his father sold him into slavery? What if he falls back into drinking too much once we rescue him too, because he's in too much pain? I can help him with all of that of course, but… If I can help to lessen the time he's stuck down there for him, then I will."

"Is there some way you can find it for us?" she then questioned Iago once more. "By magic, or…"

"Only if you wish for me to," the Genie finished before she could when he smiled smugly at the Savior. "Unfortunately, you know there's always a price to be paid for being granted a wish. And your pirate will likely be the one who pays it. If you want to find the fairy wand and the Musketeer, he's on his own."


	20. Chapter 20

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Twenty

Meanwhile…

Down within the slave camp, once the Baroness who had offered up her slave to them on a trial basis was out of sight, the Duke of Savoy sternly ordered two of his men to escort the man in chains inside his tent as he and Richelieu followed behind them, then he motioned for the soldiers to leave them so he and the Cardinal could have a private conversation with man who remained silent and kept his eyes down while he stared off at nothing, yet kept his ears open for any information that might help him find the Musketeers' friend and the fairy wand. None came.

Killian continued to stand before the traitors with his head low and without uttering a word, until the Cardinal sat down in the fancy cushioned chair behind the table within the center of the tent, then looked at him as he questioned coolly, "So… you were once a blacksmith, as well as a highly skilled killer then? If you are truly what the Baroness said you are, then your skills will most definitely come to be quite useful. But for now, I have more use for you as a blacksmith. We need weapons and far more than the few slaves skilled enough to forge them have done. Tell me… can you make weapons? Swords… daggers… axes… Even shoes for our soldiers' horses' hooves?"

Remembering back to the few months he pretended to work as a one handed blacksmith in the village on the island within the Enchanted Forest where he first met Emma, Snow, as well as Mulan and Aurora years ago, Hook glanced down at his temporary grown hand before he grudgingly, yet with conviction replied, "I could do so with one hand if need be. If that is what you need of me…"

"The Baroness may have believed you are a broken man, but there's still a sense of hatred in you," the Duke callously said before the man he believed to be a slave could finish talking. "Hatred perhaps for yourself of course, but also for your masters as well. Don't try to deny it. You have learned not to fight back in order to save yourself the pain from being beaten for disobedience and failure, only because you torture yourself mentally enough without the added physical pain. You didn't even fight back despite the beating I forced upon you a short time ago so I could witness your reactions. It's why all of your scars are as old as they are. I have seen all kinds of slaves. And your kind… make the hardest workers. Yet your kind are dangerous too. Because slaves like you could snap at any moment. Either you could suddenly attempt to kill yourself when your self loathing becomes far too great for you to bare any longer, or you could suddenly lash out against those who own you. Something tells me you would fall more into the latter theory. You've survived this long… Just how long have you been a slave for?"

"Since I was ten years of age," Killian answered him as honestly as he could, imagining as though his years within the Royal Navy, in Neverland, and since meeting his wife never existed. "I was sold into servitude by my own father. He didn't love me as a father should love a son. You needn't worry about me losing control. I've long since figured out my place in this world. You want a blacksmith, an assassin, or just a slave… then that's who I will be. I know what I am and that I will never be anything more. I haven't even a name. If I ever did, I forgot it long ago."

Cardinal Richelieu at last spoke again upon seeming to be pleased by the slave's words saying, "Let's put him to work, Victor. He appears satisfactory. I would like to see what he is capable of. Besides… as I said, we need another slave to work the forges. Have your guards take him to the forge where another of your metal workers died just this morning. If he gets out of line, you can easily kill him. And you can then pay Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent her promised price simply for being unable to return him to her."

Despite being less confident with accepting this slave for who he appeared to be, the Duke finally nodded and then he responded, "He might just be as he says. I'll have him put to work immediately."

With that said, Savoy called out to his soldiers he knew were standing guard just outside of his tent, and then ordered them to take him through the camp to the forge where he would be forced to work all day and even late into the nights, with little sleep in between. That is if the man who wasn't really a slave, expected to pretend to be so for long before he would finally be able to find the Musketeer who called himself d'Artagnan, and where the Black Fairy's wand had been hidden.

Killian carefully studied his surroundings while he was guided through the camp still wearing the chained shackles around his wrists, and observed the men and women also being forced to work for the task masters claiming to own them like they were nothing but cattle as he was now as well, so he could begin to seek out the man he was risking his life to save. The Musketeers had given him a vague description of d'Artagnan in hope that it would be enough for him to recognize their friend if he was lucky to find him.

At last, the soldiers stopped shoving him forward when they finally came upon the only unmanned forge within the camp, then one of them demanded that he get to work immediately as slaves had already begun to bring loads of the iron they were digging up within the stone from the quarry surrounding them.

Knowing that he had to do as he was told in order to keep up his ruse without causing any further suspicion in the Duke's mind about the kind of man he was, Hook let out a quiet sigh in frustration as he turned to the forge's fire, then began to stoke it in order to get it to burn hotter so he could get to work as was demanded of him. However, while he worked, he also continued to look around at the men for signs of anyone who could be a Musketeer forced into slavery like he was. Finding the wand would have to come later, when hopefully an opportunity presented itself for him to be able to do so.

Six hours later…

Victor Amadeus, known to most people as only the Duke of Savoy, at last came over to observe his newest slave's progress and eventually came to look down on the pile of swords Killian had managed to make for the soldiers who would be fighting in the war the villains were waging against the Duke of Buckingham with surprise, not only by how many weapons there already were, but by how quickly he seemed to adjust to his new position.

"I'm impressed," he then spoke to Hook, who sensed the traitor the moment he approached him, yet made no indication he had, or that he didn't care at all about gaining his approval, while he struggled to suppress his deep hatred for the slave owner now standing beside him only a few feet away. "I didn't think you were as skilled as you clearly are. If you're skilled at being an assassin as you are a blacksmith, then I might just have to admit I was wrong about you."

"Do you not wonder at all just who it is we might wish for you to kill when the time is right?" the Duke then asked when Killian said nothing at all in return, while he simply continued to work over the fire to melt down the metal he was busy preparing to forge into another sword.

He waited a moment, until Killian… although he did have a pretty good idea exactly who it was he and the Cardinal wanted him to assassinate, finally replied quietly without looking away from the fire, "It isn't my place to question what you want from me."

The Duke smiled cruelly and then he nodded as he answered, "You really do know your place. Very good. Keep up the good work. There's lots of work to be done. I'll have one of the other slaves bring over some water for you so that you won't pass out from dehydration."

Once Savoy turned his back to him, Killian turned his head slightly to watch him walk away until he was out of sight, then he continued to search among the other slaves as far as his eyes could see, until they stopped on one man who had begun to approach him with another load of iron for him to melt down. However, this man didn't look like the rest of the slaves surrounding them did. Killian saw right away that this man still had fire in his eyes that he was holding inside until a chance came for him to lash out against the traitors. The very fire he would expect to see still in a Musketeer. And this man vaguely matched his friends' description as well.

When the Musketeer finally reached the forge and worked to dump the iron from the bags he carried bound tightly to both ends of the staff across his shoulders, without saying a word to him, Killian looked around in order to make sure no other eyes were on them, then he bent down to pull out a piece of cloth concealed in his boot, and cautiously held it out just enough so the man standing in front of him could see it. And after the man stared in shock at the design upon it for a moment, he raised his head again to really look at Killian with surprise at last.

"The Fleur de Lis is the symbol of a Musketeer, and yet they have been disbanded," he apprehensively whispered, then looked around them as well and saw that they were still safe for the moment to talk. "The Musketeers are no more. And I don't recognize you. Who are you?"

Killian gently shook his head and responded quietly, "I'm no one of importance, but I'm here because of Athos, Aramis, and Porthos. They're here, d'Artagnan. They haven't abandoned you like you thought they did, and they're going to get you out of here. Not all of the Musketeers have given up just because they've been disbanded. And your wife, Constance… she also asked me to give you a message. She's waiting for you to come home."

The fourth and younger of the Musketeers most known from their story, continued to look at Killian for any signs of deception and found none, yet in disbelief he questioned, "You really are speaking the truth? What's the plan? How are we getting out of here?"

"Your arm band isn't all I have hidden in my boots," the pirate Captain replied to him with a small smile. "As soon as I create a signal, your brothers in arms will come charging into this bloody camp with a few of my own friends, and hopefully they won't be alone. I promise you… you will be a free man again. No one deserves to be a slave, especially in a Hell such as this."

"Did you really come into this camp pretending to be a slave just so that you could find me?" d'Artagnan asked him once more.

All of a sudden, one of the soldiers standing guard not too far away from them noticed that they had stopped working for longer than they should have and so he called out to them crossly, "Hey! The two of you… get back to work!"

Killian immediately turned back to the forge and continued to work again while the Musketeer bent down to continue to pull out the remaining pieces of iron from his bags to make himself look busy as well, then without looking down at d'Artagnan again, the pirate spoke even more softly to answer his question saying, "I'm afraid I'm not only here for you. My friends and I… we aren't from here. It's a long story, but if we're going to get home, I have to find something that was stolen from us by one of your enemies… Count Rochefort. Unfortunately, I believe it's currently in the Cardinal's possession, though I've no idea where. I have to at least discover where he's hidden it before I signal our friends, otherwise we'll remain trapped here in your world, in a time that isn't ours."

"If you need to find this… whatever it is you might be looking for, then if I can help you find it, I will," the Musketeer assuredly responded to the man risking everything for him. "It's the least I can do. I doubt anyone else would pretend to be a slave to save a complete stranger."

"As grateful as I am, I'm not so sure you would understand what you would be looking for even if I… if I told…" Hook began to reply again, until he suddenly doubled over in pain as he immediately grasped his left wrist and struggled to stifle his cries to avoid having the Duke's soldiers catch him. "Aah!"

D'Artagnan immediately grabbed hold of the stranger to him by his shoulders and covered him the best he could from the closest soldier's view when Killian collapsed to the ground on his knees as he continued holding his wrist tightly, while the Musketeer asked him worryingly, "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

Not knowing for sure if what he feared might be happening to him actually was, Killian still looked over at the man with him and then answered weakly, "I fear it's… my hand. The pain in my wrist… It won't be long before I have only one."

"I don't understand?" the Musketeer stated in confusion and with concern while he looked into Killian's pained eyes and saw that he meant what he was saying, even if d'Artagnan didn't understand him. "What do you need to find so you can get home?"

"It's a power… a powerful wand," Hook at last responded apprehensively, hoping he was right to trust a man who didn't know the existence of magic like the other Musketeers did. "To you it would look like… nothing more than a thin baton, color… colored black and intricately carved from wood. With an elegant silver hilt. Just go back to work… for now. I'll think of something. Worry not… I'll be all right. Just be pre… prepaid to leave when our friends arrive."


	21. Chapter 21

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Twenty-One

In Storybrooke…

Late in the afternoon, Snow left her home she shared with her husband and currently her grandson while both David and Regina were trapped in Seventeenth Century France along with Emma, Killian, and Zelena as well, leaving Neal with Blue for a little while so she could go out for a walk in order to try to clear her mind and ease her worries. The fairies were happy to look after baby Neal for their friend, and Blue understood that the Princess needed some time on her own. Neal didn't need to see or sense how upset his mother was.

After she had been walking for about an hour, Snow eventually found herself within the cemetery and finally came to stand where she and David had buried her mother's handmaid and her dearest friend from her childhood, Johanna. Snow was feeling lost, as she worried for her husband, for her daughter and son in law, as well as for her two closest friends, Regina and Zelena. As much as she wished she could speak with her mother, Queen Eva wasn't buried in Storybrooke. So, Snow came to where she knew she could speak with the one person who knew her mother as well as she did.

For a few moments, Snow just stood over the grave as she looked down on the tombstone sadly as tears formed in her eyes, until at last she knelt down on the ground in front of it and began to speak to Johanna softly saying, "I miss you, Johanna. Everyday. I truly wish there was someone still here who knew my mother so that I could talk with them about her, but you're the only one who ever did. However, as much as I miss both you and my mother, right now I am missing the man I love and my children. They're alive and they're all right of course. But they aren't here. They're off in some strange unknown land and somewhere in time, trapped where we can't do anything to bring them back home. I know in my heart they will find a way home without our help. But I'm still afraid for them. It's easy to believe in your heart that your loved ones will be okay, but it's different and much more difficult to believe when your head is telling you otherwise. If you were here right now… I know you would tell me exactly what I need to hear to help ease my mind too. You always knew how to help me whenever I was feeling troubled. I really hope you're well, Johanna. That you were able to move on to a happy place and that you're not trapped down in the Underworld somewhere with unfinished business. I wish I had thought to check on you too while we were down there. I should have. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm so sorry."

Snow finally paused a moment to think before she continued to talk, but before she could go on, the Princess looked up just in time to see a young boy coming out from Regina's vault that stood in the distance not far from where Johanna's grave, and she stared at the boy in surprise while she mumbled to herself, "What the… Just who is that?"

She stood up again and cautiously began to walk towards the vault while the boy she thought might be one of the Lost Boys who had come home with them from Neverland, was distracted as he admired the trinkets Snow could see that he had clearly stolen from her friend's vault. Unfortunately, Snow stepped on a twig beneath her foot and the moment she did so as the crack sounded in the air, the boy looked up and saw her slowly approaching him, then he immediately took off running through the woods as quickly as he could. Snow quickly began to chase after him while she shouted out for him to stop, although he simply ignored her just as she expected of him to do.

"Please… stop!" she cried out to him once more while her chase after him continued. "I promise, I just want to talk with you! Please!"

He only continued to run and just when she thought she couldn't continue on after him any further, someone she didn't expect to see out in the woods unexpectedly appeared right in front of the boy and swiftly knocked him down to the ground so he couldn't run away from the woman after him any longer.

"Papa?!" a little girl suddenly called out to him from somewhere out of Snow's sight while she slowed her run to a walk to make her way towards the boy and the man she could now see to be a friend of theirs, until the man's daughter appeared from behind a tree nearby, then walked around him and the boy now beneath his knee as the man on top of him pinned him to the ground to keep him from running away. "Is everything alright, Papa? What are you doing?"

"Jefferson?" Snow at last called out and then finally made the final steps towards him in order to close the gap between them. "It is you."

The Mad Hatter smiled at the woman once she reached them, then he turned his head to look at his daughter, Grace and responded to her with a cheeky smile, "I'm just helping out a friend."

Once Snow got her breath back as much as she could, she smiled at her friend as well and then she replied, "Thank… thank you. I didn't think… that I was gonna catch him. He was stealing from Regina's vault. I saw him coming out with a few trinkets I couldn't quite make out."

"Why were you stealing from Regina's vault?" she then asked the boy once Jefferson finally pulled away from him to let him up off the ground, yet kept a tight hold of his left arm and jacket by the collar behind his neck. "What were you doing down in place you have absolutely no business being in?"

"The man with the eyepatch said I would be free to take whatever I wanted from there so long as I took for him what he wanted first," the boy curtly answered her while he glared at her and at Jefferson as well. "It's not like Her Majesty's here anymore to make sure people who don't belong down there stay out."

Snow looked at him with surprise and then she questioned again, "The man with the eyepatch? You mean… the Count? Count Rochefort? You were working for him?"

He struggled once more against Jefferson, who finally released him and then while the boy straightened out his jacket and its collar, he finally looked at Snow again as he responded, "I don't work for anyone anymore. Least of all that man. But he paid me three pieces of silver to snatch something valuable from that vault, because he suspected someone who wasn't a thief like me could enter without being seen. And I'm the best thief there is."

"Who are you?" Jefferson asked him at last before Snow could. "Are you one of the Lost Boys from Neverland?"

"You haven't been in school at all," Snow added with concern.

The boy finally replied haughtily, "My name's Dodger. The Artful Dodger."

Upon recognizing the name from a book she had read as a teacher, the Princess smiled and then retorted, "Actually… your real name is Jack Dawkins. You're a young pickpocket, and you really are the best young thief of your time. You once worked for a man who called himself Fagin… didn't you?"

"How did you…?" Jack attempted to question her with confusion, until she continued to talk.

"You're also one of those who came here to Storybrooke from the Land of Untold Stories, aren't you?" she asked again. "You've lived a very long time."

Dodger sighed and then he reluctantly answered, "So what if I have? Call me Dodger, not Jack Dawkins. I never go by that name."

Grace looked at Snow as she asked quietly, "How do you know who he is if you've never met him before today?"

"I know him from his story, _Oliver Twist_," Snow White responded to the girl who had grown up into a beautiful young woman over the years since she had once gone by the name of Paige in some of her classes during the years of the first dark curse. "Originally written by one of the best classic writers of all time, Charles Dickens. At least until we learned that all of the characters from these books we believed to be fictional, have turned out to be real and their stories were truly written by the Author. Or Authors. I don't know which of them actually wrote Dodger's real story."

"What did you steal from Regina's vault for that awful man?" Snow then finally questioned the boy when she lowered her head to look back down at him. "And what else have you taken just now?"

While Jefferson attempted to open his jacket to try to see what Jack had stuffed into his pockets, Dodger pulled away from him again, then pulled out a few diamonds, a tall gold candlestick, and a silver locket while he replied sternly, "A few items that surely won't hardly be missed much."  
When the Princess reached out to take back the locket in his hand because she knew it once belonged to Regina's mother, Dodger sensed he had been wrong about its value to the woman he was stealing from as he guiltily uttered, "Except maybe that locket. But the dwarfs here mine diamonds like these all the time and candlesticks surely hold no meaning to no one. As for what I stole for that Count, you call him… It was some dirty lookin' black oil lamp. I don't understand why it mattered much, but he really wanted it. Said it held value only to him and he paid me well to do so. Three silver coins, just like I told ya."

"That lamp was no oil lamp," Snow answered in frustration, then she took back the rest of the items he had stolen as well. "It belonged to a dangerous magical being, who helped Rochefort to kidnap someone very close to us. He and the others are in a lot of trouble because you helped that man."

"Look… I'm sorry about that," Dodger sternly responded again, though he actually did feel a little guilty for helping a man who was clearly evil, unlike Fagin who was just another thief who still had somewhat of a heart. "I didn't mean to help someone like the Count. At least not to hurt anyone. I'm a thief. Nothing more than that. If I promise to never go into that vault again, can I go?"

Snow simply nodded, then watched as the young thief ran off until she turned to look between Jefferson and his daughter and spoke worryingly saying, "Now we know how the Genie was able to escape so he could help Count Rochefort. I have to get back into town. I have to tell Henry and talk with Blue about sealing Regina's vault until she can get back home to do so herself. I guess since the final battle, she didn't feel a barrier spell was needed any longer. Thank you for your help again, Jefferson. And Grace. Why don't you both come by our home for dinner tomorrow night? Hopefully by then, David, Emma, Hook, Regina, and Zelena will all be back home again."

Grace smiled at the Princess and curtsied to her, before she rose back up and answered kindly, "Papa and I would love to come for dinner. Thank you, Snow."

"Now, Papa… let's finish picking wild flowers," she then added when she looked over at her father and smiled at him too.

"Of course, my darling Grace," the Mad Hatter stated as he smiled at Snow as well, then ran off after his daughter once she continued to run through the woods, leaving Snow White to make her way home alone.


	22. Chapter 22

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Twenty-Two

Back in Seventeenth Century France…

Once again on the hills above the slave camp, Athos and Porthos returned from the woods upon finding food that they wouldn't have to build a fire to cook. The smoke from any fire would be seen down below and their location would be discovered, so they had to settle with eating berries and other fruits and nuts, as well as water from the river no more than a mile away from the camp. It wasn't much, but the food would tide them over until they succeeded in saving d'Artagnan and Killian, and finding the wand, then returned to their village in Paris.

Emma accepted the fruits and nuts offered to her when Aramis returned to sit back down by her side where she came back again to look down over the camp below them after he stepped away to talk with his brothers. However, she set the food down on the ground beside her after she thanked him for it, but didn't reach out to eat any of it, and instead kept her eyes in front of her while she continued to wait for any sign from her husband, refusing to walk away even to rest no matter how tired she was.

"You should eat, if just to keep up your strength, Emma," David then said to her a few minutes later after he had seen her ignore what was given to her, and came over to sit down again on her other side. "You're going to need it once the fight begins."

"I know," she vacantly answered until she finally turned her head again to look over at her father, then reached down to pick up a stem of berries so she could eat a few of them. "It's been over six hours, and there's still been no word. No sign from him at all. And if that isn't bad enough, Captain Treville hasn't returned yet with more men to help us fight this battle when the time comes. What if no one is willing to? The Musketeers have all been disbanded. What if they all refuse to rise up again against the King?"

Aramis slowly rose to his feet in that moment upon hearing the sounds of thundering hooves coming towards them, just as Athos, Porthos, the only other Musketeer already with them, Regina, and Zelena all stood upon hearing the charge coming towards them from the forest as well, then at last Aramis smiled upon seeing who led the soldiers once they all appeared before them, and he replied, "They haven't refused, milady. They've all come ready and willing to fight."

Emma and David both turned around as well and starred in shock at all of the men on horseback, dressed in their own tunics with their armbands that showed they were Musketeers who were willing to rise up again to save one of their brothers, and a man who had risked so much to find him. Men who were willing to fight against the evils of the villains who took innocent men and women and forced them to become slaves who worked day and night to make weapons in an unjust war.

The Savior looked over at her father and finally smiled for the first time since they had been at home in Storybrooke in their own time, then she looked over again at Aramis as well while she responded to him sincerely, "Thank you. Killian won't let us down either. He will find your friend and let us know when it's time to fight. I believe in him."

"So do I," the Musketeer confidently answered, as David wrapped his arm around his daughter's shoulders, feeling proud of her for continuing to have hope no matter how dire their situation continued to grow.

Meanwhile, down inside the slave camp below…

Notwithstanding the pain continuing to flare within his left wrist and fake hand, Killian worked the forge for a little while longer after d'Artagnan left him alone again at his urging for him to do so. While he worked between wiping away the sweat and soot from his eyes, like the rest of his body was now covered in as well, he struggled to think up a plan to find the wand that he had a pretty good idea of where it might be, now that he finally found the Musketeer and told d'Artagnan all he needed to know so that he too would be prepared to fight when the time came.

Unfortunately, as the pain only worsened to the point when he could no longer work the fires and apparatuses before him, Killian at last gave up trying to, knowing it wouldn't be long before the magic Emma had cast to grow the limb from his arm would vanish along with the hand that wasn't his own. It was time to find the wand, whether he had a real plan or not.

The pirate Captain looked around him at the soldiers within sight, and when he saw they were all looking in other directions from where he had been working since he first arrived in the camp, he stepped away and warily walked towards the Duke of Savoy's tent where he suspected the traitor and the corrupt Cardinal would be. Thankfully, slipping through the camp under the guards' noses was simple enough, as those who noticed him away from his station most likely believed he was on his way to speak with the men in charge.

Once he reached the tent, he glanced behind him and when he saw none of the soldiers were looking in his direction, he quickly ducked around behind the tent, then bent down low to the ground as he pulled out a lighter he had stashed within his boot, which David had given him in case he needed some kind of distraction to escape from trouble.

However, before he did anything, Hook pressed his ear to the fabric of the tent and listened for the sounds of the Duke's and Richelieu's voices in order to make sure they were actually inside. As he did so, he heard them talking again about their plans to wage war against the Duke of Buckingham, as well as their plan to assassinate King Louis during the chaos so that the Cardinal himself would be able to rise up to rule France upon the King's death. It sickened him to hear them mention him in their plans, as they now intended to use him as their assassin.

At last, Killian struggled with the lighter until he finally got it to light, then he carefully lowered the flame coming from it against the tent's cloth until it swiftly caught fire, that continued to spread until the flames burned hot upon igniting. Once they did so, Killian also pulled out a small pouch from his boot as well, and a sharpened piece of iron he took from off the forge which he could use as a weapon against his enemies that he had stashed uncomfortably between his wrist and the shackle he still wore, stepped back, then rushed around to the tent's front while he waited for the two men inside to rush out upon seeing that their tent was now on fire.

As soon as the Duke rushed outside first, Killian swiftly struck him hard against the side of his face with his right fist before the man even had a chance to fight back, immediately rendering him unconscious. Then without hesitation, he quickly entered the tent despite it being on fire, just before the Cardinal could escape behind Savoy. The moment he did so, Hook ducked behind the traitor before Richelieu had the chance to fight back as well and thrust the sharp edge of his makeshift weapon against his throat, then backed out of the tent from the only opening not on fire aside from the front, with the man in power in his grasp just when two of the Cardinal's guards suddenly charged in to check on their leader. They only stared at the man they believed to be a slave holding their leader in shock, until he and the Cardinal were gone.

"You won't get far with me as your hostage, slave," Richelieu cruelly mumbled as he struggled within Hook's grip despite the metal being held tightly against his throat.

Killian then swiftly tossed the pouch still gripped firmly in his fake hand in spite of the intense pain still emanating from it, into the fire, then he continued to back away with the villain faster than before as he retorted coldly, "You underestimate me."

Just when three more soldiers ran around the fire after they had pulled the Duke away from the tent to get him to safety upon finding him unconscious on the ground, as they then pulled their swords to fight against the man who had taken the Cardinal prisoner upon seeing he had done so, an explosion suddenly erupted from the flames caused by the gunpowder concealed within the pouch, swiftly knocking everyone off of their feet, including Hook and Richelieu, who became dazed and disoriented upon being closest to the blast.

Fortunately, the moment the blast erupted and they all fell back, the Cardinal's robes flew open long enough for Killian to catch sight of the wand inside a hidden pocket within them, just where he expected he would find it… on him. He immediately seized the magical artifact before Richelieu came to his senses again. However, as soon as the Cardinal realized what had happened, he scurried from the pirate's hold on him and crawled over the ground towards the soldiers who slowly rose back to their feet while Hook did as well, then shouted angrily at them to kill the slave.

Once Killian managed to get back to his feet again, he steadied himself where he stood as he faced the soldiers and waited patiently for the first of them to charge at him, then swiftly backhanded the man with as much force as he could muster in order to render him unconscious just as he stole his sword so he could fight against the other two when they charged against him as well. Killian fought both soldiers as they surrounded him despite the shackles still being cuffed to his wrists, but while they were skilled warriors, Killian's many years as a pirate allowed him to eventually strike them both down when he was forced to kill them. And he was able to use the chains attached to the shackles to his own advantage as well.

Once he finished fighting them, Hook attempted to run towards the hills where he hoped those he loved and the Musketeers would all be charging down into the camp from at any moment. However, he didn't get far when several more of the Duke's soldiers, as well as the Duke of Savoy himself, suddenly appeared in front of him and cut him off, keeping him from escaping further.

Killian grasped the fairy wand as tightly as he could within his failing hand so he could continue to fight for as long as he could against the men about to charge him again, using his dominant and only real hand so that he would have a fighting chance. And then, the soldiers began to attack him and Killian fought them with all the strength he had, that the pirate knew was failing him as well.

Just when he feared he was about to be killed once the soldiers surrounded him regardless of the number of men he cut down or rendered unconscious, d'Artagnan unexpectedly appeared among them, as the Musketeer charged between a few of the soldiers so he could help the man who had risked his life to save him, then began to fight the Duke's men as well alongside his new friend. However, Killian suddenly lost what little strength he had left as he stumbled moments later and collapsed to the ground on his knees and dropped the magical wand beside him, when he cried out in agony just like he had centuries earlier… or later since they were currently trapped within the seventeenth century, in the moment Rumplestiltskin had cut off his hand. And when he weakly looked down at the fake left hand, he watched as it painfully disintegrated just like he had feared it would.

Killian struggled against the pain that remained within his wrist where there was now nothing left but the stub he's had for the last two hundred years, while the soldiers who had been fighting against him, as well as d'Artagnan all stopped to stare down at him in confusion upon seeing his hand vanish as if by magic, almost too afraid to attack again as though they expected to be struck down by whatever witchcraft caused the slave to lose his hand.

However, Killian looked up through the men in time to see several soldiers begin to charge into the camp from the hills and upon recognizing their uniforms, he knew that the Musketeers had at last arrived to join in the fight. So, with complete trust in the man he had become a slave again to save, Killian swiftly dropped his sword, reached out with his one hand to grab hold of the wand from off the ground, then he immediately raised his head again to look up at the Musketeer still standing a few feet in front of him, and tossed the wand up to d'Artagnan, who was able to catch it easily while still holding tightly to the sword he fought with.

Killian then urgently cried out to him, "Get the wand to one of your friends now! They'll get it… They'll get it to mine. Go!"

Killian then struggled back to his feet again once he managed to pick his own sword back up as well, and continued to fight against the soldiers between him and his only path of escape one handed while they too began to charge against him again. In the meantime, in spite of hating to leave this man he had come to protect behind, d'Artagnan ran away from the battle with the magical wand in hand as he fought any of the Duke's and the Cardinal's soldiers who got in his way so he could try to find Athos, Porthos, or Aramis amongst the chaos, understanding in that moment how important doing as his friend asked of him was.

Cardinal Richelieu saw that the soldiers attempting to kill the fourth of the Musketeers he had forced into slavery as he ran was escaping, but he turned back to continue to observe the battle between the newest slave and those fighting him, then watched just as the Duke struck the one handed man down to the ground again from behind and knocked the sword from the pirate's grasp, while his men swarmed him and grabbed hold of him so he couldn't fight back any longer.

"You don't fight like a slave, but you will die as one because a slave is all you are!" the villain who proclaimed himself a man of God then spoke to Killian cruelly as he glared down at him angrily, and swiftly backhanded him just hard enough to knock him further against the ground again, until the soldiers holding him pulled him back up onto his knees while the Duke grasped his head tightly by his hair to keep his head raised in order to force him to look upon his enemies, causing Killian to gasp in pain once more.

"Kill him, then kill as many of the blasted Musketeers as you can," Richelieu then ordered the Duke, before he finally turned and fled the slave camp that had suddenly become a battlefield so that he wouldn't be caught to become a prisoner or killed himself.

Blood trickled down from the side of Killian's mouth from being struck as he continued to struggle within the men's grasps, especially when the Duke released his head and then stepped away to walk around in front of him to face the man he had just been ordered to kill. But in spite of feeling weak, Hook just glared darkly at the man in front of him, even when Victor pulled out the baton he had used that morning to strike him with before, then swiftly brought it down hard as he struck him hard across his chest, causing his slave to agonizingly cry out upon feeling a few of his ribs break under the strike's force.

The Duke of Savoy then struck him again, this time against his stomach as well as across his back and finally, Killian fell to the ground once the soldiers who had been holding them let go so their leader could continue his punishment. The villain struck Killian over and over with as much force as he had, while Killian struggled to block the blows, or at least to keep them away from his head as he protected himself with his arms the best he could. However, he felt his consciousness fading fast and he was growing too weak to be able to do so for much longer.

Mercifully, the Duke finally stopped his brutal assault at last and stared down at the badly beaten slave on the ground at his feet, then used his foot to force Killian over onto his back as he dropped the baton. He raised his head to look between his men still surrounding them as they had stood by to watch the onslaught, and swiftly ordered them to join in the battle still raging behind him, then pulled a musket from his belt while he lowered his eyes on the slave again once the men ran off to do as was commanded of them.

While he stared down at Hook venomously, Victor Amadeus said maliciously, "You are a slave. I saw the look in your eyes back when you first arrived here in my camp and while you spoke of your father selling you into servitude when you were just a boy. You despise him for throwing you away, but no more so than you despise yourself. And your body has all the markings of a slave. Yet you aren't broken like you claimed to be. I knew it, but the Cardinal didn't want to listen to reason. You've destroyed everything! So now, slave… you are going to die as one."

The Duke of Savoy lowered the gun and aimed it directly at Killian as he cocked back the hammer to fire it. However, before he could shoot, another shot suddenly sounded from behind him and all of a sudden, an agonizing pain flared up within his back and chest. And when he looked down at his body, he saw blood blossoming from the wound hidden beneath his shirt, as he struggled to breathe while he stumbled and fought to remain standing. He weakly turned around to face the man who shot him, and saw David several feet away as the Prince slowly approached him with his own service weapon still aimed directly at him, having shot the Duke of Savoy to protect his son in law.

At last, the Duke collapsed to the ground once his knees gave out on him, while David coldly kept his eyes on the villain now lying there in front of him with his service weapon still drawn and aimed at the man's body just to make sure he was truly dead. David then moved forward and kicked the musket from his hand in order to be safe. And when he was finally confident that the man was no longer a threat, David lifted his head again to look towards Killian and saw for the first time just how bad off he was.

"Hook!" the Prince shouted out while he immediately ran to his son in law as fast as he could, then collapsed to his knees beside him. "No… Damn it!"

Grateful to find Killian still alive despite his grave condition, although he had finally lost his battle with consciousness, David immediately ripped a large piece of cloth away from the bottom of his own shirt in order to use it as a rag so he could try to stifle as much of the blood flowing from a severe wound where he could see part of the bone from Killian's right shoulder was now protruding from. Then, after quickly studying his other injuries and bruises, David sympathetically caressed Killian's forehead, as well as the sides of his face and whispered fearfully, "Emma's here, Hook… You have to hold on."

David then worked to unlock the shackles still around Killian's wrists with the key Athos gave him earlier so he could, before he finally turned his head to look behind him for any signs of his daughter coming. However, when he didn't see her, he turned back to Killian and struggled to lift his son in law into his arms to carry him through the last of the soldiers refusing to surrender to the Musketeers who had at last overtaken the slave camp, so he could bring him to Emma or to Regina with the hope that they will be able to summon enough power within them to save him.

Porthos saw the wounded man being carried by his friend first and quickly ran over to him so he could take Hook from David, as it was easier for him to carry him because of his stature. David stayed close by and kept his hand over the worst of the wounds as best as he could, until at last they saw Emma ahead of them. When the Savior saw her father and the Musketeer walking towards her carrying her husband in his arms, she immediately stopped fighting the soldier she was about to render unconscious and ran the rest of the way to Killian as fast as she could run, quickly taking David's place by his side while she began to cry out of fear upon seeing how badly injured her husband was.

After they walked a few feet further, Porthos stopped and carefully laid Hook down on the ground away from the fighting, then Emma sat down beside him so she could lay her hands over him in the hope that she would be able to heal him just as David hoped. Unfortunately, she could no longer feel her magic flowing through her, no matter how hard she tried. Her magic was gone, just like it had been when she lost it upon saving Hook's life once before when Zelena had cursed his lips, then nearly drowned him through Rumplestiltskin as she ordered him to do so.

Tears slipped silently down Emma's cheeks, but she refused to give up trying to heal him. However, David finally pulled her back so Porthos could lift him up into his arms once more just as Aramis, Athos, d'Artagnan, and Treville at last reached them as well, followed closely by Regina and Zelena too.

For the most part, they were all in fairly good shape, though some of them also received injuries during the battle. Athos had taken a musket ball through his left arm, Aramis had been slashed by a soldier's sword across his chest, and Zelena was being held up by her sister, as Regina draped her arm across her shoulders after she had been grazed deeply by a musket ball that barely struck her in her side.

"Your husband is still alive," Athos assuredly stated to Emma as he looked towards the wounded man in his brother's arms until Porthos passed by him, then he turned to face the Savior as well. "We will take him someplace safe where he can be cared for. You may not be able to heal him with your magic, milady… but thankfully, Constance is good with tending to the wounded. Certainly with the two of you tending to his wounds, he will survive this ordeal."

Emma just nodded without saying a word, then together the heroes and Musketeers made their way back to their horses so they could make their way back up the hills to where d'Artagnan's wife was waiting for them all to return with her husband, while two more Musketeers stood by with her for her own protection, as well as to keep watch over Count Rochefort, who remained their prisoner.

The wife to the youngest of the Musketeers closest to her, waited patiently for all of her friends to return, especially with d'Artagnan at their side. At last, she saw the others in the distance, until all of a sudden, the man she loved appeared as well, then in the moment he saw her, d'Artagnan immediately ran to his wife and upon embracing one another, they were reunited at last.

"They told me you were still alive and while I believed them, a smaller part of me was afraid they were wrong," she cried joyfully as she continued to hold him close, then kissed him.

"I am alive thanks to this man who desperately needs your help once we get back into the city," d'Artagnan worryingly responded once he finally pulled back enough to be able to look into her eyes, until he turned his head towards Killian within Porthos' arms. "I don't know how any of you knew I was alive, or why this man risked his life like he did just to find me in that Hell, but…"

Aramis patted his brother's shoulder and then replied, "We'll tell you everything soon enough, my friend. It's an incredible tale. But let's get back home so we can save him as he did you. We will need to construct us a travois on which we can carry him."

Once Porthos laid Killian back down upon the ground again so that he could help the others work to do as was needed of them to do, Constance looked over at Emma as she tenderly reached out to lay her hands over her arms, then she remorsefully whispered, "I am so sorry. I never wanted the man you love to suffer like this for the sake of saving my own husband. I wanted so desperately for d'Artagnan to come home alive and well, but I… What your husband did for us…"

"Please… just don't," the Savior brusquely answered her before the woman could finish offering her gratitude, even though Emma knew in her heart that Constance, nor d'Artagnan were to blame for Killian's suffering any more than the rest of the Musketeers were. "I know the only ones to blame are all of those who have done this to him and your husband. And myself."

"That isn't true, Emma," David undoubtedly replied, as she once again sat down on the ground beside Killian so she could continue to care for him as much as she could, while the Musketeers continued to work around them. "This isn't your fault."

She looked up at him with anger in her eyes as she responded crossly, "Isn't it?! Gold reminded me and Killian of the risks involved with opening another time travel portal. And even though I remember them all too well, I didn't listen. Killian even asked me if doing this was the right thing to do, and I still didn't listen. I am happy I was able to help the Musketeers to get home, and I'm happy we were able to save their friend too. I am. But I never should have agreed to let Killian risk his life. There had to have been another way!"

When David sat down beside her, he tenderly laid one hand over her cheek, while he laid the other over his son in law's hand lying still on top of his stomach, then he looked into his daughter's eyes as he answered gently, "Hook… Killian… He did this, because it was the right thing to do, Emma. Not because it was the easiest thing, or because it was the only thing we could have done."

"It's like I told you…" the Prince softly continued once he lowered his head and looked down again at his son. "Hook sacrifices everything because he loves you so much, Emma. It's like when he was stabbed by George a month ago because he took it upon himself to protect me from being hurt, as well as from having to kill him. I could have killed George. Several times over even before that night, but I never could no matter how much a part of me really wanted to… because I was Prince Charming. Yet when I found out that George was the real reason why my father died months earlier, I became so angry, I ignored every instinct I had before so I could kill him. Hook saw this and he saved me from making that mistake so I would be able to look back at the man in the mirror any time I looked in one. And then… I wanted to kill George again the night he attacked me on the beach too. Hook made the sacrifice he did to protect me from having to, because he loves me like a father and because he could take on that burden. It isn't fair, but it's one of the things I love most about him. He's going to come through this, Emma. I know it."

"I hope so," she whispered sadly, then finally collapsed into her father's arms so he could hold her.


	23. Chapter 23

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Twenty-Three

Emma allowed her father to hold her against him for a few minutes, until she became too uncomfortable upon feeling something made of metal sticking out beneath the tunic he was wearing as it pushed into her stomach while they embraced one another. And then upon remembering what it was, she quickly pulled up the clothing enough so she could pull out the Genie's magic lamp, then rubbed it in order to summon the being living within it, ignoring her father's sudden objections to her decision to release Iago once again from the lamp.

David quickly asked, "What are you doing?"

Once the Genie again appeared in front of them, Emma stood up to face him as she demanded strongly, "I need you to heal Killian. Right now. You're the only one who can. He's been wounded badly."

"You know how Genie magic works, Savior," Iago curtly replied to her, while he looked between her and the man now lying wounded on the ground behind her as she stood protectively over him. "If you want me to heal him, you have to make a wish. But you won't. Because you're more afraid of what the consequences will be if I do. And like I warned you before, because you would be making the wish on his behalf, it will most likely be him who pays the price of such a wish. But by all means… do it. I'm more than ready."

"Emma, you know you can't do this," David sternly warned her again once he stood up behind his daughter while he grabbed hold of her shoulders. "It's far too dangerous. We have no idea what else will happen and for all we know, it might even make things worse. For any one of us. Not just Hook. He wouldn't want that. You have to believe he can survive this too. I certainly do."

At last, Emma finally just nodded after she turned around again to look at him, then she knelt down over her husband again and responded sadly, "You're right. I can't risk making things worse for anyone."

However, she raised her head to look up at the Genie again in confusion as she questioned, "How was it that you were able to heal Killian without me having to make a wish before then? Back when he was dying from that dagger which turned him into a young boy and forced him to suffer hallucinations? You didn't require me to wish for you to heal him."

"That's a very good question," Regina stated, when she walked over to stand next to Emma and David as well.

"I was only able to do so because of pure survival instinct," Iago coldly answered her and Emma while he looked between them and David. "When Your Majesty threatened to destroy my lamp by fire, I had to stop you. Not so much simply because I wanted to live, which of course I did want to… but because my power drove me to do so. Much like many curses, a Genie's power has a dangerous hold over its possessor. As if my power possesses a mind of its own, it didn't wish to die anymore than I did. So I was forced to heal the pirate to keep you from destroying my lamp by doing as you commanded me to."

Upon overhearing the Genie's answer from where he was helping his brothers build a travois for their wounded friend a few feet away, Porthos stopped working a moment as he looked between his friends and replied callously, "If all it takes to force this monster to heal Hook, then let's build a fire. We'll threaten him again."

The Genie glared over at him as he retorted, "You can't. Only fire that is conjured by magic, like the Queen here summoned a fireball into the palm of her hand the last time… can kill me. It's the only fire that burns hot enough to melt the metals my lamp is forged from."

"How convenient for you that all of our magic is currently on the fritz right now," Regina snidely responded once again, then looked over towards the Musketeers to observe their progress and thankfully saw they were nearly finished. "It looks like we'll be able to leave soon. Once we get back to Constance's and d'Artagnan's home, we'll be able to care for Hook properly."

"We won't actually be going back into the city," Athos said quietly, then he turned his head towards where Count Rochefort was still bound to the tree not far from them when Aramis walked over to stand in front of the villain wearing an eyepatch, and everyone watched when the charming Musketeer suddenly punched their prisoner hard across his face in order to render him unconscious. "As much as we all want to kill Rochefort, and have wanted to since the day he betrayed us all, it would be wrong. Doing so would make us no better than him and Cardinal Richelieu. And if we were to try to bring him with us, he would no doubt eventually manage to escape, and we can't risk him telling the Cardinal where we're actually going to care for your friend, as well as our own wounded."

Porthos continued for his friend, "We would have Rochefort arrested if we thought the charges against him would make a difference. But the Cardinal would only find a way to show the King the charges were false so that Louis will eventually pardon him. As he's always done for Richelieu. So we'll be leaving him here just as he is. Tied to this tree and unconscious. When he awakens, he can struggle to free himself."

Zelena looked between the Musketeers and their Captain while Constance was busy bandaging the wound in her side, as she asked curiously, "So where are we going then?"

"There's an old convent long since abandoned not too far from here," Treville answered the former Wicked Witch when he looked over at her, then turned away to watch as Aramis and David carefully lifted Killian from the ground to be able to lay him as gently as they could onto the travois now ready for him, once Emma stepped away from him so that they could. "Its remaining existence is hardly known. We'll be safe there, I assure you. We only know of it because Aramis lived there as a boy while he learned the ways of becoming a priest. Sadly… he lost his faith upon learning the truth about Cardinal Richelieu being a corrupt and evil man, and not a man of God as Aramis once believed him to be. Yet he still prays to God and offers all dead their last rites so they can be forgiven in death. So their souls can pass into heaven. Should your friend die…"

Emma abruptly cut him off as she curtly retorted, "Killian isn't going to die."

"Of course not," the Captain remorsefully replied to her in apology. "Forgive me. He couldn't be in finer hands."

"We're ready to head out," Porthos at last called out to everyone around him, then the rest of the Musketeers who weren't wounded in the battle began to walk past them so they could all make their way back into town, as the four lead Musketeers, their Captain, and Constance pushed onward with the heroes from Storybrooke so they could hopefully make it to the convent before just after nightfall while David and Porthos carried Hook on the travois between them.

A few hours later…

The heroes and Musketeers at last had reached the convent just after night fell like they expected to, and once they entered inside, David and Porthos gently laid Killian down still with the travois beneath his body on a bed within one of the rooms where they could care for him, and where his wife could be alone with him once they finished doing so.

Constance immediately got to work on tending to Killian's many injuries as best as she could. Emma and David both remained with him, as close as they could be to Killian without being in the woman's way. The worst of the wounds in his right shoulder was the most difficult to do anything for due to the bone dangerously protruding from his skin, and he had already lost a lot of blood despite the efforts she and David had made to help stifle the blood flow with the rags and tattered clothing along their journey to the convent.

Some of his other injuries from being beaten within an inch of his life by the Duke were deep as well, but not nearly so compared to the worst of them. Killian also had a number of smaller lacerations, multiple bruises of all sizes all over his body, as well as cracked and broken ribs. How he wasn't dead, was truly a miracle in Aramis' mind and in the rest of the Musketeers' minds too. However, for the heroes who knew him, they understood why he was still fighting to live. He was a survivor, and he loved Emma far too much to ever leave her alone again.

Once Constance finally finished caring for him in all the ways she could upon cleaning and stitching up the lacerations that she could, as well as bandaging his ribs and the larger of the wounds, then finally setting his arm carefully within a makeshift sling to help keep his arm and shoulder from being moved too much, she left Emma and David alone with him so she could go out to rejoin her own husband and their friends.

The Savior took Constance's place in the chair beside her husband's bed and reached out to lay one of her hands over his as it stuck out from the cloth covering his arm that rested over his chest, then laid her other hand tenderly over his right cheek so she could lovingly caress his face in hope of showing him she was there with him.

She and David both remained with him in silence as they kept close vigil over him, until at last, Emma turned to her father who had been sitting in another chair beside her for awhile now, then she asked quietly, "Would you mind leaving me alone with him for a bit? I'd like to talk with him. He may be too deeply unconscious to even hear me, but if there's the slightest chance a part of him is able to hear me… I made Killian a promise."

David looked at his daughter with remorse while he responded, "You promised him you would remind him he's still the man you fell in love with and that he's loved by all of us who know him. That he's no longer a slave like he feared he might come to believe again."

"That's right," Emma sadly answered him, then looked down on her husband once more.

"He'll remember, Emma," her father steadfastly added, and he stood up to leave like she asked him to do, then leaned down to kiss her gently on top of her head before finally leaving the room.

For what seemed like hours passing before Emma could find the words to say to the man she loved, the Savior pulled out his hook and brace to return them to him, then finally spoke to him lovingly saying, "I'm so proud of you, Killian. You have no idea just how much you've really done for these men, especially for d'Artagnan and Constance. Not only have you reunited two people in love as much as we are, but you saved a good man from the same terrible fate that you were forced to endure when you were just a child into your adult years by becoming the slave you feared to become again to find him, and you've helped to avert a war that would have broken out here in Seventeenth Century France. At least for now. You have given back all of their happy endings more than I ever did and could have."

Emma stopped speaking again while she continued to think of the right words to say to him, although when she became quiet again, her mind wandered back to months ago, back when she was struggling deeply with her tremors brought out upon learning of her destiny as Savior to die. It was a moment she shared with Killian before they were married, on the day the Evil Queen had cursed her parents with a new kind of sleeping curse that kept them separated for the next few months until the curse was finally broken again.

She and Killian were down in Regina's vault beneath her family crypt looking for any kind of potion, spell, or magic they could find to try to stop the Evil Queen from hurting Snow and David. However, when Killian saw that Emma was struggling with keeping her tremors under control, he had lovingly come up with the right words to say to her so he could help her overcome her fear. It was the first time he had given her confidence and strength through what he called 'story time', as he's done for her many times since.

_Upon seeing her hands shake the moment she attempted to pick up a crate containing numerous potions, books, and other things from the vault, which Regina asked for them to take out of her vault before the Evil Queen could move in, Killian stepped over to the woman he loved while he called out to her worryingly and then he assured her, "Wait, wait, wait, wait… Hang on, hang on… Look at me, look at me. Now you're worried about your parents, and that's making this worse, but they're gonna be all right. They're gonna find that magic little baby tree thing and defeat the Evil Queen."_

_ "They're gonna find that magic little tree thing?" she then replied to him with far less confidence despite his assurance._

_ "Yeah, that's right," he responded again with a smile._

_ However, Emma look to him as she questioned fearfully, "What if they don't? What if the Evil Queen gets there first and I'm not ready for a fight?"_

_ When his first attempt failed to help her, Killian reached down to take her hand in his own and lifted it above his right shoulder when he turned around to pull her along with him towards the center of the room where a chest rested on the floor that they could sit on so they could talk while he stated, "All right. Come here. Sit down."_

_ "I borrowed Henry's book," he continued once he sat her down on top of the chest, then walked over to a barstool that his satchel sat on top of and pulled out the storybook containing all of their stories beyond the fairytales known about them. "I wanted to tell you a story."_

_ "Killian…" she started to grumble to try to object to his attempt to continue to make her feel better once he then sat down beside her._

_ However, he immediately cut her off as he shushed her playfully, "Shh, shh, shh… Shush, shush, shush… It's story time."_

_ Unsurely, Emma simply whispered, "Okay."_

_ "Once upon a time, the Evil Queen vowed to kill Snow White and separate these two," Killian began when he opened the book now lying open on the chest between them too with the pages facing his love so she could see them as he showed them to her while he spoke, beginning at her parents' love story, and he pointed to a picture of them holding one another at their wedding just after Regina had charged in to threaten them by announcing her plans to cast a dark curse._

_ "But no matter what she tried, they always found each other," he continued on again after he turned the page to reveal a picture of Snow White lying asleep in her glass coffin with the seven dwarfs keeping vigil over her in the moment Prince Charming found her again upon searching for her for as long as it took. "And then…"_

_ He kept his eyes on Emma's face while he spoke and turned the page once again, coming upon a picture of David holding her when she was a baby just as he was putting her into the wardrobe to send her away, then he added, "…they found you. And you inherited the strength of that love. So then, even when they couldn't find each other…"_

_ Killian turned the page one last time while continuing to keep his eyes on her, as he finally showed his love the picture of her and him dancing together at King Midas' ball within the past during their time travel adventure and finished gently, "…you made sure they did."_

_ "True love can break any curse, and so can you because that's what you're made of," he unwaveringly assured her when he reached down to take her hand once again into his own, as Emma smiled at him while she listened to his words of love. "You are the Savior because you were born of their love. And they're in love today because you brought them together. You… you can overcome these visions. You can overcome anything. Now remember who you are."_

_ "The product of true love," he whispered last of all, after Emma looked down at her hand and lifted it to reveal that it was no longer shaking while he continued to smile at her, then Killian lifted the back of her hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly._

At last… Emma broke again from her thoughts and reached under the collar of her shirt she was wearing to pull out the chain around her neck on which she wore Killian's brother's ring he had given to her in Camelot, and now wore his wedding ring as well until she could find the time to return it to him, which was now.

After she pulled it off the chain, the Savior lowered it as she placed it back around his only hand's ring finger and rested one of her hands beneath his to hold it as gently as she could with it being bound mostly within the sling, then finally leaned down far enough so she could kiss the top of his hand tenderly like he had done for her back then, before finally continuing to speak with him again.

Emma whispered, "Remember who you are, Killian. You're no slave. You're my husband. My true love and I truly do love you. You have reminded me of who I am so many times and not just to you, but to everyone. Because of you, I have found my happy ending even when I thought I never would. You broke down all of my walls when no one else could and you loved me no matter how many times I tried to push you away. I never would have been able to succeed in putting my parents' love story back on track were it not for you being there for me every step of the way. You are a good man and a hero to everyone at home. My parents love you too and so does Henry. Please… please don't lose yourself to the pain in your past. Remember the here and now. Remember me. Remember the woman who loves a daring and brave dashing rapscallion, who is a true hero. I love you, so please… show me that you can hear me. Show me that you're going to keep fighting to survive."

When she stopped talking again, the Savior waited in silence while she continued to hold his hand and looked down upon his ashen still face waiting for any signs of him waking or that he had at least heard her voice as she spoke to him. Tears once again began to fall from her eyes down her cheeks as she did so.

However, something more unexpected occurred in that moment when Emma glanced down at her hand beneath his, then at the one now running her fingers through his hair until she laid it still once again over his cheek, and suddenly saw them glowing as she began to feel a small surge of magic begin to flow through her body into his.

All of a sudden, Emma jumped a little in awe and joy upon seeing his eyes flutter open in spite of them feeling heavy once her magic slowly began to heal him. Not nearly as much as she hoped to, but enough to assure her that he would truly survive long enough for them to get him home where she would be able to heal him completely once her magic fully returned.

Then, after he had closed his eyes once more when pain suddenly flared again throughout his body, Emma couldn't help but feel such relief when Killian at last spoke to her weakly saying, "I… I hear you. You found… found your magic again, love. Save it for get… getting us ho… home. You can worry… about me then."

"Thank God," she uttered again with joy simply upon hearing his voice, then she leaned over him again so that her face was close to his so he would continue to hear her when she spoke again. "I'll never stop worrying about you, Killian. But you're going to be just fine. You are. Just like you promised me you would be. So I promise… I promise I will get us home and then heal you the rest of the way. Do you remember who you really are?"

"Aye," her love answered her, despite him quickly losing all of his strength to remain awake. "Thank you, Emma."


	24. Chapter 24

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Twenty-Four

Four nights later…

After four days of suffering from a dangerous sickness which had been brought on by a few of his injuries that had become infected despite Emma's healing and Constance's ministrations, Killian was finally just strong enough to be able to get out of bed so he could stand on his own two feet with help from Emma or David, who continued to remain close to him. He was still very weak and in a lot of pain. However, he was as anxious as everyone else to return home again. Emma was just grateful her husband was able to remain awake for longer than a few minutes at a time, like he had only been able to do until that afternoon, as the heroes from Storybrooke prepared to go home at last.

With a great deal of effort and patience, Killian feebly made his way through the convent while his wife remained on his right side and held him as she was careful to avoid bumping his arm that remained in the makeshift sling he was wearing on account of his shoulder, while his father in law held him up on his left side. Both Regina and Zelena remained close by as well in case they were needed for anything, while the Musketeers and Constance waited for their new friends outside so they wouldn't make the wounded man feel any more ashamed of feeling so weak in front of them than they sensed he already did.

When the heroes finally exited the convent, they immediately grew worried upon seeing those from this world they had come to know over the last week, talking with an elegant woman who just stepped out of a carriage which had driven up in front of Constance and the Musketeers no more than a few minutes earlier. However, upon seeing the looks of uneasiness on the heroes' faces, Aramis walked over to join with them so he could assure them that they were still safe.

"Come, my friends," the Musketeer said to them softly, urging them to follow him. "Her Majesty, Queen Anne has come to offer her gratitude to each of you for all you've done for us and for all of France. Especially you, Captain. Killian Jones."

"Gratitude is hard… hardly warranted," Killian frailly responded to Aramis once he suddenly stopped walking forward out of apprehension upon seeing the Queen standing not much further away in front of them. "I'm not… I'm in no…"

Upon sensing right away what her husband was so afraid of, Emma moved around in front of him and looked into his eyes as she assured him, "You don't have to be ashamed of your condition or your appearance. You've been sick because you were severely wounded in that damn camp fighting as the hero you are. She may be the Queen of France, but she's no different than Regina, my mother, or even me."

Aramis smiled as he added, "Emma's right. I assure you that you needn't treat Her Majesty any differently than with the same respect you always show for your loved ones, as well as you have us, my friend. And you're looking much better this evening than you were even just this morning."

"Your Majesty… we are honored to introduce to you our friends from a faraway land known as Storybrooke," Captain Treville then spoke to Anne to make introductions once Killian finally relented and allowed Emma and David to help him move again so they could join with the Musketeers, Constance, and the Queen. "Emma Swan, her father David, Regina and Zelena Mills, and Killian Jones… Emma's husband. The man who gave everything and nearly died so we could save d'Artagnan from the Duke's slave camp and help to avert a war that Cardinal Richelieu, Count Rochefort, and the Duke of Savoy were conspiring together to start against the Duke of Buckingham, all in hope of assassinating King Louis so the Cardinal could rise to power in His Majesty's place."

While Emma and David simply bowed their heads so they could continue to help Killian remain standing between them as he too bowed his head before Anne in respect, Regina and Zelena both curtsied before the Queen upon being introduced to her. Queen Anne looked between each of the heroes as she smiled and curtsied to them in gratitude for all they have done.

But when she looked at Killian, who kept his head down to avoid looking into the Queen's eyes out of shame despite his wife's and their friend's assurances, she then reached out to lay her hand tenderly over Killian's unbruised cheek and encouraged him to raise his head to look upon her.

"There aren't words that can express how grateful I truly am to you and the rest of your loved ones here among you," Anne gently said to him in sincerity once Killian finally looked upon her. "Especially you, for risking your life as you did not only to save my closest friend's husband and to stop these corrupt men from waging a terrible war that no doubt would have destroyed all of France as we know it, but also to expose their plans to assassinate my son. I know Louis has allowed Richelieu and Count Rochefort to corrupt him into becoming no better than they. But he is still my son and I love him deeply. I still have hope that one day Louis can be saved, though I fear it may also be too late. Yet thanks to you, we still have a chance. So thank you."

Killian looked over at Emma once more and then he answered, "I could… couldn't have done anything… without my wife, or our father and… and our friends."

The Savior smiled at him, then upon feeling him beginning to falter more against her and David as Killian grew weaker the longer they kept him on his feet, Emma turned to the Queen again while she pleaded, "Thank you for your kindness and gratitude, Your Majesty, but I'm afraid we really must be going. Killian's health is failing. I have to get him home so he can begin to get well again."

"Of course," Anne immediately replied to her in understanding, then turned to one of her soldiers when he stepped up beside her to offer her the contents within the wooden box now open in his hands, and she pulled out five medals, one for each of the heroes from another land as a reward for their bravery and sacrifices, as she offered to all men and women who went above and beyond to honor her loved ones and their country. "Thank you. All of you. I do hope we will one day meet again, but I've been told you're not from a land where such hope is possible. So I truly wish you well."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Charming respectfully responded to her, then carefully took on all of Killian's weight against him despite Killian's own efforts to stand as much as he possibly could on his own while Emma stepped forward once she pulled the Black Fairy's wand from her red leather jacket's inside pocket so she could at last summon the little magic she was able to find still within herself thanks to Killian in order to open up another time portal for them to return home through, and once she began to do so, David looked over at his son in law to reassure him. "We're going home, Hook. Just hold on a little longer."

Queen Anne stepped back and watched with astonishment as the Savior finally succeeded in opening the portal through magic a few moments later. As did Constance, d'Artagnan, and Treville. The three Musketeers just stood back and bowed their heads to each of the heroes to say their goodbyes when they stepped forward one at a time to vanish through it, beginning with Zelena and then Regina.

However, before Emma and David could step through as well, the fourth of the Musketeers who had been saved from a life of slavery, swiftly rushed in front of Killian and then spoke to him with sincerity and in gratitude saying, "Thank you, Killian. Two words are hardly enough to offer how grateful to you I truly feel, but… You have done more for me and my wife than you'll ever know, and sacrificed more than any man should ever have to. And without seeking any kind of gratitude or reward in return. Whether you believe yourself to be a hero or not, you always will be to us. You're no more a slave, than I was for the few days I had been trapped in that hell. I'm so sorry you were forced to suffer that life all over again for me. Be well again, my friend."

Killian could only nod weakly, before Emma returned to stand with him and her father before they finally entered the portal together, leaving the Musketeers, Constance, and Queen Anne behind in Seventeenth Century France where they would all continue to fight Cardinal Richelieu's and Count Rochefort's tyranny, until one day they would finally succeed and save all of France after the King would soon become replaced by another King with his same face, who was a good and just man, while Louis himself lived out the rest of his days locked away and cared for by his mother and a deaf mute, who was unable to ever tell anyone the secret that remained between the few who knew the truth.


	25. Chapter 25

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Twenty-Five

Back in Storybrooke, within the present day…

Henry sat with Archie inside the doctor's office half an hour after the teenager's latest appointment while they continued to talk. Not just about his worries for his family members who were still missing after nearly a week since they disappeared through the time portal, but also about how he was dealing with beginning to use his Author powers again after he hadn't been using them since sending the Evil Queen to another land where she could find her happy ending with Robin Hood from the Wish Realm.

The truth was that in using his powers, even if they were being used to help him learn about what was happening with his family, made him feel somewhat uneasy, especially for using them to try to force his storybooks to reveal more than they would without his magic to help the pages appear sooner than they normally would.

When Henry used his Author powers as they were intended for, like the Apprentice warned him that they were only meant to record and not to rewrite any stories, he felt in complete control and he loved being the Author. However, using his powers for anything else such as he was doing now out of fear for his family, he couldn't help but feel afraid of the consequences that were no doubt still to come. And yet, so far nothing bad has happened since he had begun.

The seventeen year old continued to express his worries to the man who has been a good friend to him long before the first dark curse his adopted mother had cast was ever broken, until all of a sudden, the pages of the storybook which Henry had set down on the couch beside him suddenly began to flutter again when more changes to the Musketeers' story suddenly appeared within the pages before his eyes.

"Something's happening," Archie then stated in surprise the moment the magic began, as Pongo, who had been sitting in his bed within the room beside Archie's chair, swiftly stood up on all fours upon sensing something was happening as well. "What's going on Henry? Your family… Are they all okay?"

After a few moments, while Henry stared down at the pages now open in front of him to read the words that came and to study the picture that appeared as well, as he held the book in his hands, he finally looked at the doctor again with a smile on his face and answered, "They're coming home. We need to get back to Zelena's barn… Right now!"

A short time later, within the barn out at Zelena's farmhouse…

The time portal suddenly opened up in Storybrooke, and within seconds, Regina and her sisters came flying out and swiftly landed hard again when they hit the ground. Both women grumbled once they did so, then scrambled back to their feet again before the others returned home just as they did.

It took a little longer than they expected for them to, but at last, Emma, Killian, and David all came through the portal in the same manner as the sisters had, causing the wounded man to let out painful gasps upon landing roughly on the ground between his wife and father in law, despite his effort to try to stifle his cries.

The Savior immediately knelt over her husband as she carefully rolled him over onto his back with her father's help when they saw that Killian was on the verge of losing consciousness again. Charming then lifted him into his arms and held him close, while Emma laid her hands over his chest and brow so she could finally heal him at last, feeling her magic once again flowing through her almost from the moment they returned to their own time and in a land full of powerful magic. However, while she could feel her powers again, her fear for the man she loved made it difficult for her to bring them out once more, especially since they had remained dormant for so long.

Yet Emma refused to let her own fear keep her from saving his life any longer and she knew exactly what she needed to do in order to free her mind so she could heal him. The Savior closed her eyes and ignored the tears streaming down her cheeks, as she thought back to Killian's words of encouragement from the time he reminded her of who she was through 'story time', like she had thought of while she healed him as little as she was able to the night they saved him from the slave camp.

Once she began to do so, Henry suddenly came running towards them from the woods upon seeing their loved ones were finally home, followed closely by Snow, Archie, Belle, and Rumple who arrived among them last because his limp slowed him down more so than the others, and as soon as Henry reached them, Regina immediately embraced her son while she happily cried out, "Henry! Oh… I'm so happy to see you."

"You too, Mom," the teenager replied to her with relief, although his joy in seeing his family again was short lived upon seeing Killian's terrifying condition as Emma carefully worked to heal him.

"David!" Snow immediately exclaimed, then called out her daughter's name when she too came running up to them, until she froze in fear as well upon seeing her son in law lying so ill and severely wounded within her husband's arms. "No… Killian? How did this happen?"

Once the Princess slowly knelt down on the ground beside her husband, daughter, and her son in law and laid her hands gently over David's back, while Henry knelt down on Killian's other side, David raised his head to look into his wife's eyes with despair as he whispered, "I'll share everything with you later. It's too much for right now."

At last, each of Killian's wounds finished healing while white light continued emanating through the Savior's hands, as the cracked and broken bones finally mended themselves, the wounds and smaller lacerations all along his body slowly closed and his bleeding stopped, and each of his bruises faded away as though they were never there.

Killian then opened his eyes again at the same time as Emma did, as he looked up at her and smiled gently without saying a word. She could see there was pain still behind them that didn't come from physical anguish any longer, but from the trauma he had suffered during their time in Seventeenth Century France. A trauma she felt emotional anguish from as well because she had to let him make the sacrifice he had, and she knew her acceptance of their plan would always haunt her, even if it had been the right choice for them to make.

Emma leaned down to kiss him, then finally helped him to sit up while Henry, David, and Snow backed away and stood up again to give them some space. And then, once the newlyweds were back on their feet again as well, the silence that had fallen over them all was finally broken when Henry pulled out the storybook from his backpack again and discovered that the last of the pages within the Musketeers' story had been restored.

Knowing that Killian wasn't ready to talk about what happened to him with anyone other than perhaps Emma, he smiled as he held the book open for everyone to see and spoke to them proudly saying, "You guys did it. You gave the Musketeers back their happy ending. All of them. And it appears they finally defeated Count Rochefort, as well as Cardinal Richelieu."

"That's great, kid," Emma responded as she smiled at him and then reached out to pat the back of her son's head to show her gratitude for his understanding that Killian wasn't ready to talk anymore about what happened to them.

"Speaking of the bad guys getting their comeuppance…" Regina then stated upon remembering there was still one more villain yet to be punished for his role in all that happened to them, and she stepped closer to David and reached inside his jacket's pocket to pull out the magic lamp so she could summon the Genie again. "Rochefort might have forced him to help him more than he would have liked to, but Iago still helped him willingly when they took Hook a prisoner in the first place and forced us to follow after them through the portal to save him. It's time he pays for his crimes, and not by just simply making sure he can't use his magic any longer with another dampening cuff."

Once the former Evil Queen rubbed the magical being's lamp and Iago appeared again before them within a puff of smoke, he then pleaded, "Please, Your Majesty… the Count used me just as he used the pirate and the rest of you to help him get what he wanted. I know I deserve to be punished for all I did, but… Show mercy."

Emma then spoke for Regina as she retorted curtly, "You're not sorry for the things you did. You're only sorry you were foolish enough to trust the wrong person again, just like you did when you trusted Rumplestiltskin over us. Like you trusted in Jafar too. And if given the chance to betray us all again, you would. You obey those who are evil because you are too. We offered you a chance to change, and you didn't take it. Mercy is not killing you for what you've done."

"If you will allow me…" Gold at last spoke up when he reached out to take the lamp from Regina. "This magical being does nothing more than blindly obey those he aligns himself with. He follows and mimics their evil deeds as though he has no mind of his own. He's nothing more than a parrot. So perhaps that is what he should be, until he can prove himself once more that he will no longer be a threat."

"No!" Iago shouted angrily, as the Dark One raised his hand and cast a spell over the Genie, who suddenly became engulfed by red smoke that finally cleared seconds later, revealing that he was no longer a man, but a parrot just as Gold had called him, while the being then shrieked like any bird cries out before continuing to plead with them. "Change me back! Change me back!"

However, Regina just smiled smugly as Iago swiftly flew up into the air above the heroes before him, then she answered, "Unless you prefer to remain trapped like that inside of your lamp as well… Fly off and don't do anything more to hurt any one of us again. Or your punishment will be much worse than simply being turned into a mimicking dumb red bird."

Everyone raised their heads to watch Iago fly away from them, then Regina took the lamp back again from Gold's hand while she said again, "Well… It's time to return this thing back to my vault where it should remain out of the wrong hands. Although… However did the Count get his hands on it in the first place?"

"You're going to want to reinforce your blood magic over your vault again," Snow replied when she turned to face her, and Regina looked at her with confusion. "A little thief also from the Land of Untold Stories managed to break inside and stole a few things more than just the lamp for Rochefort. A very good thief. Don't worry… I got back the things he stole. Why don't we all come back to Charming's and my place so we can talk about everything that happened."

"You all go on ahead," Emma quietly responded as she tightened her grip around Killian's hand and glanced over at him, before turning back to her family and friends again to continue. "Killian and I are going to walk back to our place. He needs to rest and well… I can't deny I could use some more rest myself. We'll come by again later, or perhaps tomorrow once things have settled a bit."

Snow looked at her daughter and son in law with worry, as did David, then she simply nodded her head in understanding before she smiled gently and answered, "Of course. Let us know if there's anything you need. It's so good to have you both home and we're relieved that you're both okay."

At last, Killian spoke as he accepted Snow pulling him into a gentle hug and replied quietly, "Thank you, love. It is good to be home again."

Emma then embraced her parents and her son as well, before she and Killian finally walked away from them to return to their home so they could be alone for as long as they needed the time to try to recover once they talked things through. After they were gone, everyone who returned from their latest time travel adventure and those who came out to welcome them home again, left the barn out at Zelena's farmhouse so they could join the Charmings in order to learn about all that Henry's storybook didn't reveal to them.


	26. Chapter 26

All For One, One For All, and All For Love

Chapter Twenty-Six

Just after midnight that same evening…

The Savior slowly awakened upon sensing that something was wrong, and she sleepily lifted her head away from her pillow to turn behind her, only to find that her husband was no longer lying in bed beside her like he had been since they had gone to bed a few hours earlier once Killian had assured her he was all right. Emma knew the man she loved had only told her what she wanted to hear to try to ease her mind so she wouldn't worry about him as much as she was, but she also understood that he wasn't ready to talk anymore about anything that happened to him while he had been down in the slave camp. So she didn't push him. Instead, they talked confidently about tomorrow and what was next for them now that they returned from their honeymoon and were ready for their lives to resume as husband and wife, and as partners in their work as the town's sheriffs.

They had then gotten undressed to go to bed early so they could try to sleep off the remaining weariness that had drained them both since they fell through the time portal and went through all they had. For awhile, Emma just laid in Killian's arms as she watched him sleep uneasily. She gently traced the contours of his face while she did so and ran her fingers through the strands of his hair, until at last she finally fell asleep as well. Unfortunately, she had been far too exhausted to feel when he awoke in a panic nearly an hour later, then carefully rose from their bed so he wouldn't wake his wife, and left the room so that she could continue to sleep in peace, since sleep was no longer possible for him upon being unable to keep his painful memories at bay.

When the Savior eventually sensed and saw that her husband was no longer lying with her, she rose from their bed and pulled on her robe, then made her way downstairs so she could look through the rest of their home to see if Killian might have just left their room upon being unable to sleep any longer in spite of his exhaustion.

However, when he was nowhere to be found, Emma understood he had left their house and walked to his ship within the harbor to try to ease his mind, knowing that the ocean's waves and the horizon usually calmed him whenever his mind was troubled, as his mind most certainly was deeply troubled from the moment Killian had volunteered to make the sacrifice he did because there was no one else who could. So, she ran back upstairs to get herself dressed and then pulled on one of her jackets hanging up within their closet, before she finally left their home as well in order to follow after the man she loved.

Meanwhile…

Killian stood on the deck of the Jolly Roger while he leaned over the starboard side of his ship staring vacantly towards the horizon beyond the ocean upon falling into the back of his mind and becoming trapped within his memories, both from his time within the Duke of Savoy's slave camp in Seventeenth Century France, as well from his many years as a slave under Captain Silver's command, despite his struggle to try to think about Emma and her words to him that assured him he was no longer a slave like every part of him was trying to make himself believe.

When he first boarded his ship, he had walked down into his quarters to pull out the silver coin he had spoken to Emma about the morning before they were forced to travel through time once again from his safe, then came back up onto the deck a few minutes later to walk over to where he was currently standing.

Without thinking much about what he was doing, Killian set the coin down on the ship's side, as well as the medal Queen Anne had given to him for valiance, then he pulled out his flask from his pants pocket and began to drink until the flask eventually became empty while he became lost within his thoughts.

Inside Killian's mind…

"Remember who you are, Killian," he heard softly within the back of his mind while he struggled to think of his wife's words to him after he had fallen ill once he was rescued from the camp. "You're no slave. You're my husband. My true love and I truly do love you. You have reminded me of who I am so many times and not just to you, but to everyone. Because of you, I have found my happy ending even when I thought I never would."

"You are a slave," Killian suddenly heard again within the Duke of savoy's voice, as his thoughts subconsciously fell back to when the Duke was about to kill him after severely beating him. "I saw the look in your eyes back when you first arrived here in my camp and while you spoke of your father selling you into servitude when you were just a boy. You despise him for throwing you away, but no more so than you despise yourself. And your body has all the markings of a slave. Yet you aren't broken like you claimed to be. I knew it, but the Cardinal didn't want to listen to reason. You've destroyed everything! So now, slave… you are going to die as one."

More of the Duke of Savoy's words flooded Killian's thoughts again as he stated callously, "The Baroness may have believed you are a broken man, but there's still a sense of hatred in you. Hatred perhaps for yourself of course, but also for your masters as well. Don't try to deny it. You have learned not to fight back in order to save yourself the pain from being beaten for disobedience and failure, only because you torture yourself mentally enough without the added physical pain. You didn't even fight back despite the beating I forced upon you a short time ago so I could witness your reactions. It's why all of your scars are as old as they are. I have seen all kinds of slaves. And your kind… make the hardest workers. Yet your kind are dangerous too. Because slaves like you could snap at any moment. Either you could suddenly attempt to kill yourself when your self loathing becomes far too great for you to bare any longer, or you could suddenly lash out against those who own you. Something tells me you would fall more into the latter theory. You've survived this long… Just how long have you been a slave for?"

Killian attempted to push these painful memories from his mind, as he thought back to Emma's words again in her own voice while he heard her saying to him, "You broke down all of my walls when no one else could and you loved me no matter how many times I tried to push you away. I never would have been able to succeed in putting my parents' love story back on track were it not for you being there for me every step of the way. You are a good man and a hero to everyone at home. My parents love you too and so does Henry. Please… please don't lose yourself to the pain in your past. Remember the here and now. Remember me. Remember the woman who loves a daring and brave dashing rapscallion, who is a true hero."

"I was sold into servitude by my own father," his own words to the Duke and Cardinal Richelieu unfortunately sounded within the back of his thoughts as well. "He didn't love me as a father should love a son. You needn't worry about me losing control. I've long since figured out my place in this world. You want a blacksmith, an assassin, or just a slave… then that's who I will be. I know what I am and that I will never be anything more. I haven't even a name. If I ever did, I forgot it long ago."

_"__Those fish guts smell particularly foul this evening," Killian then heard himself grumble from his past when he and Liam were swabbing the deck on the Captain's ship moored at the docks, as the crew members ducked around them laughing and drinking._

_In frustration, Liam responded quietly, "Come on, Killian. The harder we work, the sooner we're finished."_

_The younger Jones sat up as he wiped his filthy hand on the front of his vest and took a sip from his flask, then he answered, "Wish I had your work ethic. Seems I inherited Father's."_

_ "__Don't joke about that bastard," his brother retorted sternly as he looked up at Killian with remorse, then sat up himself while he reached into his own vest and pulled out a piece of parchment to hand it over to the younger man. "He may have sold us into servitude, but tomorrow… we'll be free men."_

_ "__Are you serious?" Killian questioned as he read what was written on the paper to himself, then looked back at his brother in disbelief. "You want to join the King's Navy?"_

_Liam eagerly replied, "There's a signing bonus of ten silver. On top of what we've already saved, that will buy us our freedom off this bloody cargo ship."_

_Killian folded the parchment again and handed it back as he miserably responded, "I know that's your dream, mate, but I'm hardly naval material."_

_ "__If you served an honorable King, it would change you," the older Jones answered with confidence in his brother, though Killian simply began to swab the deck again. "You could be a fine Captain someday. I know it."_

_ "__Captain Jones' does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" the younger man asked humorously, not really believing he could be anything more than the slave he was._

_It was then that Captain Silver appeared on deck as he walked over to stand before his two slaves on the floor at his feet and then spoke mockingly saying, "Ha! Captain Jones? That'll be the day."_

_He then kicked over the bucket of fish guts the brothers had just cleaned up from the deck while he moved in front of Killian and cruelly added, "You missed a spot there… Captain."_

_ "__Killian… Don't!" Liam cried as he immediately jumped to his feet in order to hold him back when his little brother stood and angrily moved to attack Silver._

_ "__Come on," the Captain sneered as he removed his hat and looked straight into Killian's darkened eyes, their faces now only inches apart. "Let him try. Must be exhausting, protecting little brother from himself."_

_Liam kept his eyes on the younger man as he stated curtly, "Hey."_

_He finally succeeded in pushing Killian back, then he glanced back over at the cruel man as Liam continued, "Won't be your concern much longer."_

_ "__Because you're both going to be admirals in the Navy, right?" Silver scoffed when he turned to the older slave. "Fine by me. Long as I get paid. The sober Jones can go and collect his money. The drunk one stays as collateral."_

At last, Killian broke from his thoughts again as he closed his eyes and struggled to push his memories away, then he held up his flask again to his mouth with a shaky hand to take another drink that was sorely needed when the dark and painful memories of his time in slavery by far overpowered his memories of Emma's gentle words to him while he had been sick, until he realized his flask was empty when no rum passed his lips.

Killian's darkened eyes finally became dead upon feeling utterly defeated, while he let his arm simply fall against his side and dropped the flask on the deck at his feet. And then, rage surfaced within seconds, as Hook picked up the medal he set down on the ship's side earlier in his only hand, before he suddenly threw it with as much force as he could muster into the ocean before him while he screamed out in anger. Sadly, Emma arrived within the harbor and uneasily boarded the Jolly Roger just in time to witness her husband's despair and outrage.

Then, from a few feet behind him, she watched as Killian collapsed himself to his knees on the deck, while his silver coin fell from its place on the side when his hand inadvertently brushed over it when he had fallen and landed on the deck beside him. And in that moment, he saw Emma standing in front of him with tears in her eyes, then she immediately rushed over and fell to the deck in front of him, before she finally just pulled him into her arms to hold him once he finally allowed himself to break down.

"It's okay," the Savior whispered to the man she loved as she steadfastly continued to embrace him while Killian cried upon feeling defeated and worthless, just like he felt when he had been a slave for those sixteen or so years of his life so long ago, and again for the brief time he had been forced to pretend to be so once more to save a man's life and so they could get home, then Emma gently and lovingly continued to talk to him in hope of helping him find his strength to remember the hero he truly was. "It's okay, Killian. I'm here, and so are you. You're home. No longer trapped in that Hell. And you're no slave. You're my husband. My husband. I love you so much. Please… don't let those bastards defeat you. It isn't in you to give up. You are the strongest and bravest man I know and always have been. You're a survivor, remember? I'm here with you to help you find your way again, no matter how long it takes. And you will. I believe in you."

Finally, Killian pulled away from her and lifted his head to look his wife in her eyes despite showing her his weakness, then he replied apologetically, "I'm sorry. For being so weak and… taking up the rum again just to try to push away my despair and regrets. My past is dark. I thought I had let the part of me who was a slave go… until I became that man all over again a few days ago. And I thought I could handle it, but I was wrong."

He then lowered his eyes to look down at the silver coin on the deck beside him, before he reached down to pick it up again in spite of his hand still shaking until Emma reached out to lay her own hand over his to calm him, and he continued regrettably, "I don't wish to drink anymore. You deserve better than a pirate who drinks to quell the anguish I hate feeling. This coin helped me to become sober once. Only I fear that this time it's… it's not enough. And the things I said to Liam… The things I did when he tried to help me… I can't do this to you. I know you love me, Emma. I do. I just… Sometimes, I don't understand why."

"I love you because you're not just a hero to me and everyone else here, but you're also someone who loves with all your heart," the Savior assuredly responded to her love as she laid her other hand over his right cheek to lift his head and to help him look again into her eyes. "And you have reminded me of who I am every time I have ever doubted myself. I want to help you now… because you helped me in a way that no one else ever could when I thought my walls would never break down. I never thought it was possible and I certainly never thought I would find true love, yet you have loved me even when I pushed you away because I was too stubborn to trust you could love me. I won't let you give up on yourself. If you need to be reminded why you deserve my love… If you ever need to be reminded that you're my husband again and not the slave Silver, Richelieu, and the Duke of Savoy all tried to make you believe you are, then I am here for you. Always. And if you want to give up drinking again all together, I'm here for you. Please let me be here for you. Don't feel like you have to suffer all alone. You don't have to any longer. Never again."

"I'm your wife," she then added as she lowered her eyes to his wedding ring once again on his ring finger where it belonged, then lifted his hand in front of him to show him the symbol of their love in order to reinforce she meant as she was saying to him. "For better or for worse. I won't ever stop loving you no matter what. I promise you… you can't scare me away, just as I could never scare you away. Remember who you are, Killian."

Killian smiled at her at last even if it was with a hint of sadness behind his eyes, then he reached up to tenderly caress her cheek with his hand that was no longer shaking, while he answered lovingly, "You're using my own words I once spoke to you. Just like you spoke them to me while you stayed by my side to make sure I lived after I became ill days ago. They appear to be working just as they did for you. I love you, Emma. For better or for worse."

The Savior smiled back at her husband as she replied softly, "I love you too."

He leaned in close and kissed the woman he loved so deeply tenderly on her lips as she kissed him lovingly in return, before she finally pulled back a few minutes later while wrapping her arms around his body in order to help him rise back to his feet once she stood first so she could.

However, before they left the Jolly Roger again, Killian remembered the silver coin he had pocketed, then assured Emma he would only be a minute so he could return the coin to his safe where it belonged now that he could believe all he needed to give up drinking rum once and for all was her love and her strength to help him do so.

Before he returned, Emma walked over to the ship's side and closed her eyes to concentrate, then she summoned her magic through her while she stretched her hand out over the ocean. And moments later, Killian's medal that had been given to him to honor the sacrifice he made for the Musketeers suddenly rose out from within the waters and landed safely within her hands. One day, when she knew Killian could believe in himself again, she would return it to him. Until then, she would keep it close to her.

The End


End file.
